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Meanwhile, CeCe McDonald is on trial for the death of a man who viciously attacked her, a man who had a fucking swastika tattooed on his chest. She is facing two counts of second degree murder for what would be called self-defense by any reasonable person, if she even is the one who stabbed that Neo Nazi, which has by no means been proven.
So black trans women are being killed all over the country, but if one is even suspected of fighting back, that’s big trouble.
Here’s the really sick thing. I know, we all know, that this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to anti trans violence. Most of us wouldn’t even consider involving the police while we still have breath in our bodies, and for good reason. After all, CeCe asked the cops for help, and they fucking arrested her. And that’s not all:
CeCe was briefly taken to the hospital where she received 11 stitches in her cheek. Then, while she was still suffering both physically and mentally from this traumatic incident, she was left alone in a room for three hours and then interrogated, after which she was placed into solitary confinement. She spent the next several months in jail and had to wait almost two months between her initial doctors’ visit and a much-needed follow-up appointment. During that time, her cheek swelled into an extremely painful, golfball-sized lump, making eating difficult and producing headaches and pressure on her left eye and ear. Ironically, the only gesture towards CeCe’s well-being that authorities made during her incarceration was to put her in solitary confinement “for her own protection” on two separate occasions, despite her stated desire to be housed alongside other prisoners.
As for Brandi Martell, she was surrounded by cops as she died. They did absolutely nothing.
So, very few trans people want to report their experiences of violence to the police, fucking understandably. What this means in practical terms is that we only hear about trans violence from the media when someone actually dies. Sometimes maybe not even then. Who knows whether there are other trans women who have been murdered in April who the media missed covering completely. (They were light enough on the stories of Coko, Paige and Brandi.)
It is vitally important that we mourn our dead. If we do not, we allow even more of our humanity to be taken away from us by the murderous forces of oppression. While we mourn those who were murdered, we must also mourn those whose lives were lost to suicide under the pressure of living in a viciously transphobic, misogynistic, racist society. Can we have a moment of silence for Mark Aguhar, who took her own life so recently?
And while we mourn, let’s also listen to the stories of those trans people who have survived brutal attacks and attempts on their lives. We can’t wait for a trans sibling to make the TDoR list in order to give them our compassion and love. Let’s keep trans friends and family close to us as this bloody April ends. Let’s love each other before it’s too late.
