It’s A Bad Year

Violence against us is up; hate crimes are rising across the country according to CBS News…

Our investigation found that hate crime totals for the 10 largest cities rose for four straight years to the highest level in a decade. Within these data are intriguing signs about the timing and direction of this bigotry.

And if you are trans…

2018 Is Shaping Up to Be Another Terrible Year for Trans Murders
2017 saw 28 reported killings of transgender people in the U.S. The June 24 shooting of a Cleveland trans woman brings this year’s grim total to 14.
The Daily Beast
By Samantha Allen
July 2, 2018

For transgender people living in Jacksonville, Florida, it didn’t feel like Pride Month.

Between February and the end of June, as Equality Florida noted, four transgender women of color were shot in the Jacksonville area. Three of those women died: Celine Walker, Antash’a English, and Cathalina Christina James.

“During national Pride Month, when others are out celebrating, our community is grieving,” said Kelly Pope of the Jacksonville Transgender Action Committee in a statement. “In fact, we are not just grieving. We are actively fearful for own lives.”

The recent rash of anti-transgender violence in Jacksonville only highlights what is shaping up to be a tragic year for the imperiled community: According to the Human Rights Campaign, 2017 saw 28 reported killings of transgender people in the United States.

And in Cleveland…

More Than 15 Percent of This Year's Transgender Homicides Have Happened in Cleveland
Cleveland Scene
By BJ Colangelo
June 27, 2018

The body of Keisha Wells, 58, was identified by a family member at the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office after being killed on Detroit Avenue near West 87th Street early Sunday morning.

Wells' body was discovered a few blocks away from Cocktails, one of the last remaining gay bars in Cleveland, despite it's arguably "rough" location. According to police, her body was found alongside eleven bullet casings, and had died from what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

Wells is the seventh person to be killed in Cleveland in the last six days, and she is the second transwoman to be killed in Cleveland this year.

Last February, another transwoman of color, 45-year-old Phylicia Mitchell was found shot and killed outside of her home on West 112th Street near Detroit Avenue.

Meanwhile down in Jacksonville a killer has been caught…

Ex charged in Jacksonville transgender woman's shooting
The victim survived getting shot multiple times June 8
News 4 WJAX
By Erik Avanier
July 02, 2018

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - An ex-boyfriend is charged with attempted murder in the shooting last month of a transgender woman in Northwest Jacksonville, authorities said Monday.

Cory Fisher-Thompson, 25, was taken into custody and booked Friday into the Duval County jail on charges of attempted murder and possession of a firearm by a felon, according to the Sheriff's Office.

The Sheriff's Office said Fisher-Thompson, who was involved in an on-again off-again relationship with the victim for two years, shot the victim June 8 following an unspecified dispute.

But there is still a killer or killers of trans women out there in Jacksonville,

Police said the shooting victim, one of four transgender women shot in Jacksonville since February, was expected to recover from her wounds. No arrests have been announced in the other attacks.