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Trans woman beaten by group of men, shot dead in Philadephia
Another transgender woman has been murdered in the US in what LGBTI activists are calling ‘a nationwide epidemic of anti-transgender violence.’
Keisha Jenkins, 22, was attacked by five or six unidentified men on a Philadelphia street early Tuesday (6 October) morning, ABC News reported.
One of her attackers then pulled out a gun and fired two shots into her back while she was on the ground.
Jenkins was unresponsive when police and medics arrived and was pronounced dead in hospital at 2.53am.
Police said the suspects are still at large and they are investigating whether her gender identity played a role in the slaying.
Jenkins is the 21st transgender person – and the 18th transgender woman of color – to be killed in the US this year.
Another transgender woman of color, 21-year-old London Chanel, was stabbed to death by her roommate in Philadelphia earlier this year.
‘Even in a moment of unprecedented visibility for transgender people, their right to simply live authentically is threatened daily by violence, with countless unreported or unseen cases falling behind scattered headlines,’ Judy Shepard – the mother of 1988 gay murder victim Matthew Shepard – wrote in an op-ed with Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin.
‘Permanent, explicit non-discrimination protections that cover life’s necessities – from employment and housing to credit and education and beyond – are long overdue.
‘The Equality Act, introduced in Congress in July, would ensure that these explicit federal protections exist: from recourse for a transgender woman denied housing at an emergency shelter, to explicit protections under federal law for a transgender student or employee discriminated against because of who they are. But make no mistake, this legislation and the federal arena are not the only place for action.
‘We need policies that address intimate partner violence and ensure safe schools, and we need mayors, police chiefs, state legislators and governors to do everything in their power to bring solutions to the table.’
The post Trans woman beaten by group of men, shot dead in Philadephia appeared first on Gay Star News.
Darren Wee
www.gaystarnews.com/article/trans-woman-beaten-by-group-of-men-shot-dead-in-philadephia/
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