You Never Know

I remember once a trans women who attended a support group meeting passed away and we never knew because we only knew her preferred name not her legal name.

Police are 'deadnaming' transgender murder victims — here's what that means, and why it makes tracking crimes so much more difficult

• There have been 20 murders of transgender people in the US so far this year.
• But LGBTQ activists say there may actually be more. Deadnaming victims — or referring to a victim by their birth name rather than their chosen name — makes it difficult to know the actual number of transgender murder victims. 
• It can also hinder the ability of police to connect with the transgender community for tips and help, activists say.

Insider
By Tracey Eaton
October 14, 2019


Cathalina Christina James loved to travel and hoped to visit all 50 states, her father said. But he worried about her.

"I used to tell her all the time: Strike one, you're black. Strike two, you are transgender, and strike three, you are outgoing, and you're not afraid being in public," said Donald James, a truck driver in Bishopville, South Carolina. "You got three strikes against you, so you got to be real, real, real careful. She always told me, 'Don't y'all worry. It'll be all right.'"

On June 24, 2018, she was shot to death in Jacksonville, Florida. Her body was found at around 1 p.m. on the third floor of the Quality Inn & Suites along Dixie Ellis Trail, Jacksonville sheriff's deputies say.
[…]
Transgender activists fear the toll is higher, and no one knows for sure how many have been killed. That's because the FBI does not classify homicides by gender identity, leaving activists and researchers to track transgender murders.
[…]
Deadnaming in cases of murder or assault makes it difficult to accurately track the breadth and scope of violence against transgender people. And sometimes, the families of transgender people complicate the matter.

Many time the family doesn’t respect their daughter or son being trans so they use their deadname, sometimes it is the police that use their deadname, and since we don’t know what their old name was we don’t realize that we knew the person.

Like our friend who passed away we never knew until one member who knew her legal name told us she died.

The victims' friends and family can often help investigators during the crucial 48 hours after a murder, said Roberts, who is transgender. But if investigators deadname the victim, they lose precious time.

"When you refuse to use the preferred name of that person and a community will probably have information based on that name, you're hampering your ability to solve the case," said Roberts, creator of TransGriot, an award-winning blog.

The sheriff said that…

 "Gina Duncan is not here and does not know what is being done on the ground. She doesn't know the tireless hours that have been spent by investigators and the work done with the family and friends of Slater. The family has been very satisfied with the investigation. The only person making this a political issue is Duncan. If anything, she is hindering the investigation.

But get a load of what one of the deputies said,

Sheriff's deputies say they used Slater's birth name at first because it was her legal name. After Duncan and others protested, they began adding "Bee Love" to the name.

Being trans is complicated and sometimes we live in both worlds, before I transitioned I lived in both worlds. There was no overlap between my worlds, the two circles didn’t overlap and I actually want that.

I think we have to acknowledge worlds that we live in, that sometimes our worlds collide.

When my father passed way I was named executor of his estate but it was in my deadname. The probate judge issued an order that had my deadname as AKA, I didn’t like it but that was what I had to do to act as executor of my father’s estate.