With the recent murder of yet another transgender individual, people must actively participate to help prevent further violence against the trans community.
On Feb. 11, a transgender woman named was found dead in a park in the English town of Warrington. A boy and a girl, both aged 15, were charged with her murder.
Transgender people are to face violent victimization than cisgender people. The number of homicides against trans people nearly between 2017 and 2021, driven primarily by killings with firearms. And known killing of transgender people increased by 93% from 2017 to 2021.
On Feb. 15, the Carolina Socialists held a vigil for Brianna Ghey on the Russell house patio to pay its respects.
鈥淚 think it's really important that, when one of us is murdered, we come together and we acknowledge the trauma that that holds for our community, because the trans community already deals with a lot of violence," Sebastian Guerrero, a third-year biomedical engineering student, said. "This is an opportunity to bring the community together to help kind of process some of the grief.鈥�
Brianna Ghey's murder has made it a difficult time for the queer community as a whole. Nobody should not have to worry about their life being at risk while doing normal, every-day activities such as walking in a park. Being transgender should not have to put anyone in imminent danger, they should be able to live their lives as anyone else and be free from prejudices against them.
鈥淜ids deserve to grow up. Kids deserve to be adults, they deserve to go to college, (and) they deserve to be able to do something that makes them happy with their life,鈥� Morgan Williamson, a second-year psychology student, said. "And to see that snagged out for any reason is horrible, but specifically because they were trans is even worse.鈥�
Williamson said that its important for the queer community to stand together and look out for one another, but it is equally as important for people outside of the LGBTQIA+ community to be proactive and care about violence against trans people as well.
It is important that everybody, regardless of their identity, supports trans rights. Everybody needs to stand up for the trans community and make their voices heard. In addition to standing against violence, people can show their support for the trans community by standing against anti trans bills, such as the that prohibit the use of any medical procedures or prescriptions that might alter gender appearance and , which also prohibits anyone under the age of 26 to receive any gender transitioning services.
Transgender people should not have to worry about endangering their lives every time they go outside. We must support them and spread awareness about acts of violent victimization to help put an end to the cruelty that we are seeing today.