The Advocate

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Trans Latina Meraxes Medina killed in Los Angeles

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Meraxes Medina, a 24-year-old transgender Latina, was shot to death March 21 in Los Angeles.

Police responded to a call about 4:30 a.m. that day and found her on the street on the city’s south side, having been shot in the head, the Los Angeles Timesreports. She had been dumped from a car. She was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

The Times story did not state Medina’s name, but her identity was confirmed by friends on a GoFundMe page. Another woman, apparently cisgender, was fatally shot in the same neighborhood two days earlier. The area is known for sex work, and police have said the women had been engaged in sexual encounters that led to violence. The deaths remain under investigation.

Medina, who turned 24 in February and recently begun hormone therapy, had worked as a makeup artist at Universal Studios. She was undocumented and had experienced homelessness. But friends were predicting great things for her.

“She left an impression on everybody,” her longtime friend Alejandro Fernandez told officials at the Los Angeles LGBT Center. “She was someone you weren’t going to forget. She had this aura about her, and everywhere we went, people would turn around. She had so much potential. I was waiting for her to be an influencer and blow up. I would tell her, ‘Girl, I’m waiting for your moment because you’re already the bomb.’”

Another friend, Alisha Veneno, told the center, “We were just trying to make it in life. We didn’t know what we wanted to do or where we wanted to go, but we wanted to go somewhere.” Veneno said she knew something was wrong when she didn’t see any recent activity from Medina on Instagram, where she normally posted several times a day, displaying her skills with makeup.

“Meraxes was a young woman who deserved to live out a long and fulfilling life,” Tori Cooper, director of community engagement for the Human Rights Campaign’s Transgender Justice Initiative,” said in a press release. “At just 24 years old, she had so much more to give. Yet again, we find ourselves honoring the life and mourning the loss of someone from our transgender community killed by gun violence, and that alarming reality should emphasize our collective need to fight against lax gun laws. We need to come together and remind everyone, especially lawmakers and politicians, that our lives are worth saving and worth living.”

“Violence against transgender and gender-expansive people is a gun violence issue,” the groups Everytown for Gun Safety and Students Demand Action posted on Instagram. “In 2023, 80% of homicides of trans people were with a gun, and 60% of victims were under 30. … Trans people deserve to live freely without fear of gun violence. They deserve to grow old. We can and must #DisarmHate by simultaneously fighting discriminatory anti-LGBTQ+ policies and attempts to weaken gun laws.”

“A predator stalking sex workers is something we must attend to with all haste,” added Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents.“It is far too easy for these women (in this case) to be overlooked because of society’s practice of dehumanizing sex workers.”

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Lesbian News publisher Ella Matthes has died at 81

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Ella Matthes, the longtime publisher and editor of Lesbian News Magazine, died March 16 at a hospital in Norwalk, Calif. She was 81 years old, and the cause was a heart attack, according to a press release.

She ran Lesbian News Magazine, commonly known as the LN, from 1994 until 2022. The LN was North America’s longest-running lesbian publication. When it was founded in 1975 in Southern California by Jinx Beer, it was the lone voice for lesbian issues (The Ladder, published by the Daughters of Bilitis, had ceased publication three years earlier) and evolved throughout the years under Matthes’s leadership. The press release calls it “the nation’s foremost voice for lesbians of all ages.” It carried cover stories on Melissa Etheridge, k.d. lang, Ellen DeGeneres, Marlee Matlin, Hillary Clinton, Toni Braxton, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Judith Light, Janet McTeer, and more.

Matthes, a native of Los Angeles, bought a printing company, Superior Printers, when she was in her 20s, and ran it for several decades. However, she wanted to support lesbians and iacrease their visibility, so in 1994, she bought Lesbian News Magazine from Deborah Bergman, who had acquired it from Beers.

This was her mission statement: “The editorial vision of the LN has always been to inform, entertain, and be of service to women who love women of all ages, economic class, and color. We hope women from all walks of life will not only find something of themselves in the LN, but also be accepting of those with differing opinions. Lesbian News is our small contribution to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender liberation movement.”

She received several awards for her work, including the 2002 Women’s Night Gay & Lesbian Center’s Lesbian & Bisexual Women Active in Community Empowerment Award, the 2002 Business Alliance of Los Angeles Community Involvement Award, the 2003 Southern California Women for Understanding Community Service Award, and the 2012 Vox Femina Los Angeles Aria Award.

Matthes and Gladi Adams had been together for 26 years and were married July 13, 2013. Matthes’s survivors include Adams and a brother, Carl Matthes.

Memorial donations in her name may be made to the June Mazer Archives in West Hollywood.

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These are the most challenged library books in America — yes, most are LGBTQ+

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The American Library Association has released its list of the 10 most challenged books of 2023, and seven of the 10 were challenged — that is, subject to ban attempts — at least in part for LGBTQ+ content. Several of them are by or about people of color.

“In looking at the titles of the most challenged books from last year, it’s obvious that the pressure groups are targeting books about LGBTQIA+ people and people of color,” ALA President Emily Drabinski said in a press release. “At ALA, we are fighting for the freedom to choose what you want to read. Shining a light on the harmful workings of these pressure groups is one of the actions we must take to protect our right to read.”

The top 10 list, released Monday during National Library Week, consists of these books:

  • Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe; reasons: LGBTQ+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
  • All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson; reasons: LGBTQ+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
  • This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson; reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, sex education, claimed to be sexually explicit
  • The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky; reasons: claimed to be sexually explicit, LGBTQ+ content, rape, drugs, profanity
  • Flamer by Mike Curato; reasons: LGBTQ+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
  • The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison; reasons: rape, incest, claimed to be sexually explicit, equity, diversity, and inclusion content
  • Tricks by Ellen Hopkins; reasons: claimed to be sexually explicit, drugs, rape, LGBTQ+ content
  • Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews; reasons: claimed to be sexually explicit, profanity
  • Let’s Talk About It by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan; reasons: claimed to be sexually explicit, sex education, LGBTQ+ content
  • Sold by Patricia McCormick; reasons: claimed to be sexually explicit, rape

“These are books that contain the ideas, the opinions, and the voices that censors want to silence — stories by and about LGBTQ+ persons and people of color,” ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom Director Deborah Caldwell-Stone said in the release. “Each challenge, each demand to censor these books is an attack on our freedom to read, our right to live the life we choose, and an attack on libraries as community institutions that reflect the rich diversity of our nation. When we tolerate censorship, we risk losing all of this. During National Library Week, we should all take action to protect and preserve libraries and our rights.”

Attempts at book censorship took a giant leap in 2023, with 4,240 titles targeted in schools and libraries nationwide — a 65 percent increase from 2022’s record of 2,571, according to the ALA. There were 1,247 demands to censor books, with many targeting multiple titles, as documented by the ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom.

Monday is the second anniversary of Right to Read Day, a day of action launched by the ALA’s Unite Against Book Bans initiative, which takes place the Monday of National Library Week. This year’s theme is “Don’t Let Censorship Eclipse Your Freedom to Read,” and anyone who supports the right to read is encouraged to take action by contacting Congress.

The Top 10 Books are featured in Unite Against Book Bans’ Book Résumé resource. Launched in February, these résumés support librarians, educators, parents, students, and other community advocates when they defend books from censorship. Created in collaboration with the publishing industry and library workers, each book résumé summarizes the book’s significance and educational value, including a synopsis, reviews from professional journals, awards, accolades and more. Where possible, the book résumés include information about how a title has been successfully retained in school districts and libraries after a demand to censor the book.

Also Monday, ALA announced the theme for Banned Books Week 2024, “Freed Between the Lines,” which honors the ways in which books bring us freedom and that access to information is worth preserving. Banned Books Week will take place September 22-28.

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Republican anti-LGBTQ+ legislation bad for mental health and quality of life: survey

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After a record year for anti-LGBTQ+ legislation at the state level and in a year that threatens to outdo it, LGBTQ+ Americans are seeing a negative impact on their mental health and quality of life, according to a new survey from Data for Progress.

Keep up with the latest in LGBTQ+ news and politics. Sign up for The Advocate’s email newsletter.

In 2023, more than 550 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced in state legislatures across the U.S., and more than 80 became law, by the Human Rights Campaign’s count. The number of bills introduced this year is approaching 500. Many of last year’s bills were specifically anti-transgender, and that is the case in 2024 as well. To gauge the effect of this environment, Data for Progress surveyed 873 LGBTQ+ adults, including an oversample of trans adults, from March 8 to 14.

Fifty-three percent of LGBTQ+ adults said recent anti-LGBTQ+ policies and rhetoric have negatively affected their mental health — including 79 percent of transgender adults and 65 percent of LGBTQ+ adults ages 18 to 24.

More than 60 percent of trans respondents were concerned they would suffer discrimination or harassment when going to a new health care provider, using a public restroom, going to non-LGBTQ+ bars or nightclubs, or engaging in public displays of affection with their significant other. Among all LGBTQ+ respondents, 47 percent were concerned about discrimination or harassment resulting from public displays of affection.

Thirty-seven percent of LGBTQ+ adults, including nearly 65 percent of trans adults, said quality of life has gotten worse for LGBTQ+ Americans in the past year.

Forty-two percent of LGBTQ+ adults reported hearing anti-LGBTQ+ remarks from a family member, friend, coworker, or neighbor; one in four had experienced online bullying or harassment; 23 percent said they had been subject to discrimination; 19 percent had experienced in-person bullying or harassment in person or had stopped speaking to a friend or family member because of homophobia or transphobia.

The situation was even worse for transgender respondents. Forty-six percent reported cyberbullying or online harassment; 45 percent had experienced discrimination; 38 percent reported in-person bullying or harassment; and 39 percent stopped speaking to a friend or family member who was not accepting.

Related: 79% of American workers say anti-LGBTQ+ laws impact where they move

The onslaught of homophobic and transphobic legislation has led many to consider moving to another city or state. Forty-four percent of trans respondents said they had considered moving or had already done so, along with a somewhat lesser proportion of all LGBTQ+ respondents.

Political, corporate, and media support was important to those surveyed. Eighty-two percent of all respondents said they would prefer to live in cities or states that have pro-LGBTQ+ policies and nondiscrimination protections; 86 percent wanted to work at a company that has stated policies protecting its LGBTQ+ employees; and 76 percent preferred to buy from brands that have publicly supported the LGBTQ+ community.

Majorities of transgender adults (68 percent), LGBTQ+ adults ages 18 to 24 (57 percent), Latino LGBTQ+ adults (51 percent), and Black LGBTQ+ adults (51 percent) said that LGBTQ+ representation in media was important to the process of discovering their LGBTQ+ identity. The vast majority agreed that LGBTQ+ youth need access to safe spaces online.

While trans people reported many negative experiences, they also reported finding joy in their community and in inspiring younger people. The comments about how they found joy included “Living my life on my terms proudly and unapologetically so that the younger queer generation feels empowered to do the same” and “Getting to see others find themselves and grow as people.”

“This report highlights many of the challenges faced by LGBTQ+ adults across the country, especially as a result of recent anti-LGBTQ+ policies and rhetoric,” Data for Progress concludes. “It also underscores the disparities in reported negative experiences between transgender adults and LGBQ+ adults who do not identify as transgender. Furthermore, this report emphasizes the importance of LGBTQ+-affirming communities, policies, representation in media, and online spaces and resources for LGBTQ+ people.”

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Meet Will Wooten, the gay lawyer on the team prosecuting Donald Trump in Georgia

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In the pivotal Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump, Deputy District Attorney Will Wooten, who joined the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office in January 2021, has been central in addressing complex legal issues. 

Wooten, notable not only for his prosecutorial skills but also for his identity as an out gay man and his advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights, focused on key aspects of the case Thursday morning, specifically jurisdictional issues and the involvement of fake electors.

Who is Will Wooten?

Wooten worked both as a prosecutor and a public defender, according to his bio on the Fulton County website. The attorney previously served as a prosecutor in the Clayton County District Attorney’s Office and the Gwinnett County Solicitor-General’s Office. While at Clayton County, Wooten prosecuted major felony offenses including murder, rape, child molestation, and drug trafficking. During his time in Knoxville, Tenn., Wooten was a public defender for several years. He also has taught at the Emory University School of Law. 

Wooten earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Miami and a law degree from Emory. 

“In each of his roles, Will has helped coordinate training for new attorneys and interns; introducing them to the criminal justice system and helping them develop courtroom skills,” the website states. “In his spare time, he enjoys Miami Hurricanes football and hiking Georgia’s beautiful mountains and trails,”

How has he been involved in the case against Trump?

During a court hearing before Judge Scott McAfee this week, Wooten tackled several aspects of the defense’s motions to dismiss charges, arguing that the question of whether the governor’s office and the Georgia secretary of state’s office had jurisdiction over matters associated with presidential electors was indeed an issue of fact. Wooten emphasized the need for evidence and testimony to clarify the duties, authority, and actions of various entities involved in the election process, thereby establishing their relevance and jurisdiction concerning the allegations against Trump.

Furthermore, Wooten addressed the actions allegedly undertaken by Trump and his associates, including submitting false elector certificates. The prosecution argued against the defense’s other assertion that many of the actions charged as crimes were protected political speech.

Wooten is an out and proud queer lawyer

Wooten spearheaded the creation of the department’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Committee at the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, the Georgia Voicereported. This initiative started in 2022. It aims to address and improve the legal system’s approach to cases involving LGBTQ+ people. The committee’s establishment was a landmark effort to ensure that hate crimes and other legal issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community in Fulton County are handled with the sensitivity and recognition they require.

He is a member of the Stonewall Bar Association, which is a group of legal workers supporting LGBTQ+ rights. 

In June 2021, Wooten took a prominent stand for LGBTQ+ rights and recognition with a speech delivered at Piedmont Park in Atlanta, marking the celebration of LGBTQ+ Pride. In his address, Wooten highlighted the significant contributions of the drag community to the LGBTQ+ rights movement, acknowledging their pivotal role in the fight for equality. Reflecting on his journey and the broader struggle for LGBTQ+ rights, Wooten shared his experiences of having to conceal his sexual orientation in previous work environments and expressed gratitude for the progress that has allowed him to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights today openly under Fulton County DA Fani Willis.

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Milwaukee school board, principal sued for allegedly abusing student with gay parents

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A federal lawsuit has been filed in Wisconsin against the Milwaukee Board of School Directors and Kasongo Kalumbula, a principal in the Milwaukee Public Schools system, over claims of verbal and physical abuse targeted at a student because his parents are gay. 

The legal action, brought forth last Thursday by parents on behalf of their minor child, identified only as G.L., alleges a distressing pattern of discrimination that spans several years, starting when G.L. was in first grade.

According to the complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Kalumbula, who served as an assistant principal at the time, is accused of using homophobic slurs, locking the child in a dark room, and threatening his life if he disclosed the punishments. The lawsuit details an incident where Kalumbula allegedly told G.L. that his parents would “burn in hell” and referred to them using derogatory terms.

According to his parents, the impact of these actions has been profound on G.L., necessitating ongoing psychiatric treatment for trauma and anxiety, the lawsuit claims. The parents’ repeated attempts to seek intervention from the school and district officials reportedly led to no substantive action. Instead, the lawsuit accuses MPS of promoting Kalumbula despite being aware of the complaints.

Seeking compensatory and punitive damages, the lawsuit stresses violations of the constitutional rights of G.L. and his parents, including their right to equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment and protection against retaliatory actions for their complaints under the First Amendment. The case also raises allegations of excessive force and unreasonable seizure against G.L., pointing to a disturbing misuse of authority by Kalumbula.

The lawsuit implicates MPS policies, alleging that the district’s failure to address and prevent discriminatory behavior by its staff contributed to the environment that allowed the alleged abuse to occur. 

Milwaukee Public Schools has not commented on the ongoing litigation, citing policies against discussing individual student and personnel matters, CBS affiliate WDJT reports. Attempts by the outlet to reach Kalumbula for comment have been unsuccessful.

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LGBTQ+ and allied members of Congress introduce Trans Day of Visibility resolution

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Ahead of International Transgender Day of Visibility, which will be observed Sunday, four members of Congress introduced a resolution Friday recognizing the accomplishments of trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming people and committing to support their fight for equality.

The bicameral resolution was introduced by U.S. Reps. Sara Jacobs of California, Pramila Jayapal of Washington, and Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, and U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii. All are Democrats. Pocan is chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, and Jacobs and Jayapal are cochairs of the Transgender Equality Task Force.

The resolution notes the rash of anti-trans legislation introduced in states over the past few years, targeting education, health care, public accommodations, and access to accurate identification documents. It mentions the leadership of trans people in civil rights movements and lists trans elected officials around the nation, plus Adm. Rachel Levine of the Department of Health and Human Services, the first out trans official confirmed by the U.S. Senate and the highest-ranking trans person in the federal government. It further points out that trans people have contributed to the arts and culture in many ways and are becoming increasingly visible in the media.

“As the proud mother of an incredible trans daughter, the fight for rights for trans people everywhere is personal to me,” Jayapal said. “On this Trans Day of Visibility, I say to every single trans person: I see you, I hear you, and I will stand with you to ensure that you are protected and given the dignity and respect that all people should have. We will never stop fighting for trans rights everywhere, because trans rights are human rights.”

It closes by resolving that Congress “supports the goals and ideals of International Transgender Day of Visibility; encourages the people of the United States to observe International Transgender Day of Visibility with appropriate ceremonies, programs, and activities; celebrates the accomplishments and leadership of transgender individuals; and recognizes the bravery of the transgender community as it fights for equal dignity and respect.

Pro equality members Congress introduce Transgender Day of Visibility resolution protect trans lives rally signsShutterstock

“It’s been amazing to watch my transgender brother and gender-nonconforming sibling be their authentic selves and live happily and confidently,” Jacobs said. “I want every trans, GNC, and queer kid to have that same freedom — and that starts with visibility and representation. That’s why I’m so proud to reintroduce this bicameral resolution to recognize International Transgender Day of Visibility and celebrate all their contributions. The LGBTQ+ community has so much to offer our country and the world, and they should always be treated with dignity and respect and have every door open to them. I will keep pushing back against this hateful wave of anti-LGBTQ+ and specifically anti-trans rhetoric and policies until everyone can live freely and authentically.”

Trans activist Rachel Crandall created Transgender Day of Visibility in 2010 to celebrate the lives of trans people while also noting the discrimination this population still faces.

“The Equality Caucus and I stand with all trans people, especially in the face of relentless, obsessive attacks from Republicans against the entire transgender community,” Pocan said. “Every person should be free to be seen, heard, and live freely, without fear of discrimination, harassment, or violence. Not just on Trans Day of Visibility, but every day, the Equality Caucus will keep working towards a more equal future for the trans community.”

“International Transgender Day of Visibility is about celebrating the transgender community around the world — their achievements, their courage, and their right to live openly and authentically,” Schatz said. Truly celebrating them also means raising awareness of the discrimination and violence they continue to face — and reaffirming our commitment to fighting back against any and all attacks. While we’ve made progress over the years — thanks to the bravery of many transgender leaders – the work for full equality, acceptance, and civil rights protections continues.”

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Utah violated rights of trans woman inmate who performed surgery on herself, DOJ finds

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The Department of Justice has found that the Utah Department of Corrections discriminated against an incarcerated transgender woman based on her gender identity. The inmate, whose name was not released, removed her testicles via self-surgery while in custody. The corrections department strongly disagreed with the finding, saying it was “blindsided” by the timing and had been working to resolve identified issues.

“All people with disabilities including those who are incarcerated are protected by the ADA and are entitled to reasonable modifications and equal access to medical care, and that basic right extends to those with gender dysphoria,” Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a March 12 statement. “The Civil Rights Division is committed to ensuring that jails and prisons throughout the country do not discriminate against people with disabilities, and that right includes people with gender dysphoria.”

The inmate, who was assigned male at birth, was repeatedly denied hormone therapy by the corrections department, which also failed to make other reasonable and necessary accommodations ranging from housing and changing pat-down procedures to allowing the inmate to buy female clothing like bras and blouses in the prison commissary, according to the DOJ.

A representative for the corrections department, executive director Brian Redd, strongly objected to key findings and the timing of the DOJ’s announcement.

“We have been working to address this complex issue, and were blindsided by today’s public announcement from the Department of Justice,” Redd said in a prepared statement. “We have also taken steps on our own, and as a state, to address the needs of inmates while maintaining the highest safety standards. We fundamentally disagree with the DOJ on key issues, and are disappointed with their approach.”

The DOJ called for prompt implementation of corrective measures, according to a letter to Utah authorities obtained by TV station KJZZ. The recommended measures include modifying inmate policies, instituting staff training, and providing compensation to the victim.

The investigation into the UDOC’s practices is part of a broader investigation into protecting individuals from discrimination based on their gender identity.

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Cable news coverage of 2023 anti-trans bills lacked trans voices: Media Matters

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Cable news outlets couldn’t avoid covering the rash of anti-transgender bills in state legislatures in 2023, but they didn’t often feature trans people talking about the subject, according to new research from Media Matters for America.

The coverage also varied widely in terms of tone and time spent, notes the study, which looked at reporting by MSNBC, CNN, and the Fox News Channelthroughout the year.

During 2023, more than 550 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced in state legislatures, and more than 80 became law, by the Human Rights Campaign’s count. Many of them specifically targeted trans people — seeking to ban gender-affirming health care for youth, regulate which public restrooms trans people can use, and restrict their participation in school sports. But “reporting on this onslaught consistently failed to include the first-person perspectives of trans or gender-nonconforming people,” Media Matters reports.

MSNBC included trans or gender-nonconforming guests in 22 percent of its segments, while CNN did so in 16 percent of its reports. Fox News did not include a single trans or gender-nonconforming person, even though trans celebrity Caitlyn Jenner is among its employees. Nineteen percent of total segments on MSNBC and CNN featured a trans or gender-nonconforming person or parents of trans children.

More than a quarter of reports that included a trans or gender-nonconforming person featured the same one — Montana Rep. Zooey Zephyr, who was banned from the floor of the state legislature after saying lawmakers who supported a ban on gender-affirming care would have blood on their hands.

The time spent on coverage varied greatly among the three outlets. “MSNBC dedicated by far the greatest amount of time, with 4 hours and 27 minutes of airtime — accounting for almost half of the combined cable total of 9 hours spread over 137 segments and nearly as much as both CNN and Fox News combined,” Media Matters notes. “Fox News spent the least time — 2 hours and 11 minutes — covering specific bans or restrictions on health care or bathroom access for trans people, and CNN covered such legislation for 2 hours and 22 minutes.”

In terms of tone, “on MSNBC and CNN, 42% and 36% of segments, respectively, cited research to counter anti-trans narratives or misinformation, while 49% of Fox News segments argued in favor of restrictions on gender-affirming care or bathroom access for trans people,” according to the study.

“The majority of segments on MSNBC and CNN placed discussions of anti-trans legislation within a broader political context, noting, for example, the uptick in anti-LGBTQ measures or the prevalence of anti-trans rhetoric and violence,” the report continues. “No segments on either of these networks advanced common anti-trans talking points or endorsed the legislation. By contrast, on Fox News nearly half of segments included anti-trans rhetoric or endorsed the legislation in question.”

This year is shaping up to be just as bad or worse legislatively — close to anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced so far, Media Matters reports, with 99 of them seeking to restrict trans health care and more than 43 dealing with school or public restroom access.

“As legislators in these states discuss an ‘endgame’ that includes total bans on treatment for gender dysphoria and as families of trans people plead for funding to be able to flee their homes for states where they can receive care, the spotlight of media coverage will play an increasingly important role in the way that Americans understand this quiet crisis of internal displacement,” the study concludes. “The quality of this coverage and its real-world impacts depend on cable news networks including the perspectives and experiences of the trans and gender-nonconforming people most impacted by these legislative efforts.”

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Anti-transgender hate crimes spike, leading to calls for a public health emergency

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For decades, transgender Americans have lived under a constant threat of violence. Whether at their homes, places of work or in public, there seemingly is nowhere out of reach from hate.

In the last 20 years, hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people of all types have risen at historic rates across the country. And since 2016, Los Angeles — the nation’s second-biggest city has seen a startling rise in violence motivated by hate against its transgender residents, though it is ranked as one of most friendly to queer and trans people in the U.S. 

The Advocate compiled data from the years 2003-2022. A primary source was the LA County Commission on Human Relations (LACCHR), which has tracked hate crime data in the area for 25 years.

In 2022, there were 44 recorded anti-transgender hate crimes in the county, the highest number ever on record and a 20-year high. Seventy-two percent of those crimes were violent, also reaching a two-decade high since 2003. 

The Advocate compiled data from various sources to analyze hate crimes in Los Angeles County over two decades from 2003-2022, the most recent year on record. A notable spike in hate crimes with an anti-transgender bias occurred in 2016, and the count has remained elevated in the eight years since, marking a new deadly record with each consecutive year. The increase in reported hate crimes is due in part to more incidents, but also because of victims’ growing awareness of how to take action, which leads to a rising number of reports.

The rise in violence against LGBTQ Angelenos should be a public health emergency, experts and victims say. But various challenges to reporting and prosecuting the crimes means few sufferers achieve justice and even fewer assailants are caught, allowing them to attack again. 

Anti transgender hate crimes public health emergency nex benedict memorial rallyEquality CT

Advocates, community members and experts all agree that the nation’s shifting political climate is to blame. Designating the epidemic of hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people in LA and nationwide as a public health emergency could motivate governments to dedicate valuable resources to bolster a system that is overburdened at best, and outright ineffective at worst when it comes to receiving, reporting, and prosecuting hate crimes. 

“Our bodies have become a battleground of politics, [which is] why we need a national state of emergency for trans people,” said Carla Ibarra, a community affairs advocate and LGBTQIA+ Liason for the city of Los Angeles’ civil rights department. “Congress, who was supposed to be legislating policies that should be there to protect us minority communities, instead is the very Congress that’s out every day trying to argue why 200-plus anti-queer, anti-trans legislations are valid.” 

What is a hate crime?

While definitions vary slightly by jurisdiction, the general consensus is: A hate crime is a criminal offense that someone commits because of a motivational bias against someone’s disability, ethnicity, gender or gender identity, race, religion or sexual orientation.

Anti transgender hate crimes public health emergency MagPi store flower LGBTQ flag memorial Laura Ann Carleton San Bernardino CountyROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement groups note this includes cases of mistaken identity when the victim is wrongfully identified as part of a specific group even though they are not. One recent example of this was the August 2023 murder of Laura Ann Carleton, a store owner who was fatally shot in San Bernardino County after a confrontation with a man who ripped one of her pride flags down and yelled homophobic slurs at her. Carleton was not a member of the LGBTQ community. But her death speaks to the pervasiveness of hate violence – those who are so severely motivated by animosity for another group that they’ll stop at nothing to act on that violence, even if it means targeting the wrong victim. 

Who can receive a hate crime report? 

Any law enforcement agency can take a hate crime report, but there’s many other places that do as well. 

The LACCHR’s data consists of reports derived from over 100 different reporting agencies, Executive Director Robin Toma told The Advocate. 

These include the LAPD and LA County Sheriff’s office, the Los Angeles Unified School District, local colleges and universities as well as nonprofits like the LA LGBT Center, Toma said. The goal of the LA County CHR is to establish a “community-based system to receive and assist people who report any act of hate,” Toma said. 

Anti transgender hate crimes public health emergency miami report lgbtq hate crime library signJeff Greenberg/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Once a victim contacts their local police or sheriff to report the crime, the agency is obligated to report that to the FBI. The FBI has been obtaining crime statistics from state and local law enforcement since 1930 but only began requiring hate crime data in 1990 following Congress’ passing of the Hate Crime Statistics Act, meaning there’s limited historical context to this data. 

But the numbers are only part of the story, Ibarra said. 

“Do we need these numbers? In a perfect world, we shouldn’t even be talking about, ‘you should protect us because this is X number of trans people are being harmed or killed violently,’” Ibarra said. “But you can’t just get any funding for any services if you don’t have that number.”

The role of violence

Hate crimes are often violent, but not always. 

Law enforcement distinguishes between the two, but nonviolent hate crimes are still hate crimes if there’s sufficient bias against the victim’s identity. Murder, attempted murder, rape or sexual assault, robbery and simple and aggravated assaults are violent crimes. 

Disorderly conduct, intimidation, threatening phone calls or vandalism are often considered non-violent. 

Of all 2,833 hate crimes recorded by the LACCHR from 2003 to 2022, nearly half were simple assaults. In 2022 alone, 72% of hate crimes were violent, indicating what experts mark as an alarming trend of growing violence. 

Anti transgender hate crimes public health emergency Transgender Day of Remembrance candlelit vigilScott Varley/Digital First Media/Torrance Daily Breeze via Getty Images

Toma has worked at the LACCHR since 1995 and said the rising rate of hate crimes against LGBTQ Angelenos should “absolutely” be a public health emergency. He added that anti-Black, anti-Latino, anti-LGBT and anti-Jewish hate crimes are the four largest categories and typically make up about 80% of all reported.

“The LGBT community has long been one of the largest targets of hate in LA County and we’ve documented that,” Toma said. “When we started to really focus on anti-trans hate crime, we saw that even though the numbers might not be as large, the level of violence was always one of the highest of any targeted groups.” 

If you or someone you know was a victim of a hate crime, you can report it to your state or local police, or anonymously to the FBI. Or reach the U.S. Justice Department resource center for hate crime victims at 1-855-484-2846.

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