Tag Archives: louisiana

Police Blotter – 31 July, 2014

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Policewomen
Three cases of crimes against transgender persons suddenly jumped to the surface of my news feed. We try here at Transas City not to focus too much on single crimes, for two reasons. First and foremost, many in the community have “tragedy fatigue,” in that they already fully know and have experienced hatred against themselves and our people, and they don’t need to keep seeing news reports of another dead transperson. Secondly, early news reports also carry with them a high level of speculation, “he-said-she-said,” and uncertainty. And outside of opinion pieces, we deal in as much hard fact as possible here at Transas City.

In our first story of this police blotter, WDSU News reports that a New Orleans transgender woman was attacked and robbed, and manages to misgender her as well during the reporting. However, the primary topic of the article is not about anti-transgender hate crimes (even though the police say the crime was due to “sexual orientation[sic]”), but about the growing Hispanic community and its relations with the African-American community in New Orleans. My reaction?
Confused

Our next story involves a 15 year-old transgender girl whose crime against humanity was that she was trying to ride on the subway in Washington, D.C. Having ridden on the Green Line myself, I can say it’s not really that seedy of a place to be, especially at 4:30pm. The story thus far:

Metro Police have arrested and charged 24-year-old Reginald Anthony Klaiber with bias-motivated assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the stabbing. They apprehended Klaiber at the Fort Totten station as he was attempting to flee the scene. Officers also recovered a 3.5-inch folding knife.

Metro spokesman Dan Stessell says the girl was stabbed once in the back and taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

…

Witnesses told Transit Police detectives that the suspect made bias-motivated remarks about the victim’s transgender status immediately prior to the assault. The charges against Klaiber include the possibility of enhanced penalties for hate/bias motivation.

I mean good grief, why? You just have to seriously, seriously question the utility of keeping a person in society who just walks up, taunts a transgender girl, then stabs her – in public, in front of multiple witnesses, in a heavily policed area. That’s stupid, evil, AND crazy.
Stupid-Evil-Crazy
The final news item we have for you is one we will hear about in this year’s Transgender Day of Remembrance. Specifically, an arrest has been made in the Fort Meyers, Florida murder of transgender woman Eddie James Owens. Owens was apparently murdered, and then her body was burned to attempt to prevent identification. Apparently the victim knew her accused killer, and there was bad blood between them. The problem is, when you’re transgender having “bad blood” between you and someone else may very well result in your blood which is spilled.

Trans Woman Dares Bible-Quoting Councilman to Stone Her to Death

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I admire her courage for standing up and confronting this dingus. It never ceases to stun me how ignorant Christians can be about their own Bible. And how so hypocritical even literalists can be, openly violated the Bible while they dare to try to judge others. Once I had a short conversation with a Biblical literalist, which went like this:

Them: “…and what’s the most disgusting of all is we have these homosexuals spreading Satan’s teachings in our schools! You know the Bible says we should stone them to death, and maybe it’s about time we realized we’re a Christian nation and need to follow Christ’s teachings!”

Me: “Jesus said you were supposed to murder homosexuals?”

Them: “It’s not murder if you’re doing God’s will.”

Me: “OK, two questions. First, are you saying Jesus said you are supposed to kill your fellow humans if they’re gay, and second, why does the most powerful being in the Universe, who created the Universe and everything in it, need to have you as their personal hit man? Are you saying God is so helpless they can’t punish these evildoers themselves?”

Them: “Jesus loves us and wants us to obey his teachings. That’s all you need to know.”

Me: “You haven’t broken any Commandments or teachings in the Bible? How about the ones about never shaving and wearing tassels on your clothing? How about not stealing, something I know you’ve broken?”

Them: “We’re all sinners.”

Me: “So should I punish you? Can I put you to death for violating God’s will?”

Them: “No, because you don’t believe.”

Me: “But I do believe. You’ve just borne false witness. That’s another Commandment.”

Them: “Leave me alone or I’ll kick your ass.”

Me: “Did God just tell you to do that? Otherwise you’ve just threatened to break another Commandment.”

Sobering thought of the day: people like that are allowed to vote.

Trans Woman Dares Bible-Quoting Councilman to Stone Her to Death | Advocate.com.

LSU Poll: Louisiana Opposes Gay and Transgender Discrimination

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Louisiana
This is somewhat encouraging news, especially given the high number of conservative religious folks in the state. The guts of this very short article:

-89.3% of Louisiana residents agree that nobody should be fired from their job just because they are gay or transgender,

-93.7% of Louisiana residents believe that nobody should be evicted from their home or denied housing because they are gay or transgender, and

-89.5% of Louisiana residents believe that schools should protect gay and transgender students from bullying and harassment.

The support extends across all sorts of traditional dividing lines – Republicans and Democrats, young people and old, north Louisiana and south all agree that LGBT people deserve fair treatment in these aspects of life.

LSU poll finds Louisiana opposes gay and transgender discriminat – WAFB 9 News Baton Rouge, Louisiana News, Weather, Sports.

Trans Women Beaten to Death in Los Angeles, Baton Rouge

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I try not to post many of these articles. For one thing, they can seriously depress me, and can get me into a mode of thinking that we really still have so much further to go. For another, I try to post mainly positive articles which show transwomen succeeding. However, I never advocate ignoring the hate and the crimes committed on us, and two women murdered in one week has made me feel like yes, we need to stop and think about what it really means to be transgender.

Melony Smith, a transgender woman who press reports identify as Vanhxay Inthichack, was found dead inside a motel room last week in Baldwin Park, just east of Los Angeles, according to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. An autopsy revealed she had been beaten to death, prompting detectives to rule the case a homicide.

On Thursday, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau confirmed it had taken Stephen Gonzales into custody on drug charges and was preparing to file murder charges against the 28-year-old from West Covina.

A 31-year-old transgender woman, identified in media reports as Shaun Hartley, was found dead inside an abandoned house in Baton Rouge Thursday. The local coroner declared that Hartley had died as a result of blunt trauma to the head, neck, and torso.

Trans Women Beaten to Death in Los Angeles, Baton Rouge | Advocate.com.