#LGBTQ: A.M.A. Warns Trans People Are Facing an “Epidemic of Violence” in the U.S.

Photo collage of trans persons who lost their lives in 2018, via CNN

The American Medical Association warns that violence against transgender people is rising in the US. saying there’s an

“epidemic of violence against the transgender community, especially the amplified physical dangers faced by transgender people of color.”

AMA board member Dr. S. Bobby Mukkamala said:

“According to available tracking, fatal anti-transgender violence in the U.S. is on the rise and most victims were black transgender women.
The number of victims could be even higher due to under reporting, and better data collection by law enforcement is needed to create strategies that will prevent anti-transgender violence.
The body warns that ‘the physical risks faced by transgender individuals can have long and short-term negative impacts on the physical and mental health of these individuals, survivors, their communities, and the nation as a whole.'”

The AMA’s annual House of Delegates meeting earlier this month raised concerns about a spate of anti-trans violence. The resolution notes:

“Since 2013, at least 128 transgender women, transgender men, and non-binary people (people whose gender is not male or female) have been killed across 32 states and 87 cities in the US.
In 2017, there were 29 homicides of transgender people in the US reported in the media, the highest number ever recorded, in addition to many more that were not publicly known
In 2018, advocates tracked at least 226 deaths of transgender people in the US due to fatal violence, 82 percent of whom were transgender women of colour and 73 percent of whom were Black transgender women.”

They’ve backed calls for a central law enforcement database to collect data on reported hate crimes, and has also called for stronger law enforcement policies regarding interactions with transgender individuals in order to prevent bias and mistreatment.

Police in Dallas this month arrested a suspected serial killer who has been charged with the murder of black transgender woman Muhlaysia Booker and two other victims.

Kendrell Lavar Lyles is also a person of interest in the death of another black trans woman, Chynal Lindsey.

In November the HRC Foundation released A National Epidemic: Fatal Anti-Transgender Violence in America in 2018. It’s a heartbreaking report honoring the at least 22 transgender people killed last year and detailing the contributing and motivating factors that lead to this tragic violence. The report came one day ahead of Transgender Day of Remembrance, an annual commemoration of the transgender people killed during the preceding year.