No Citizen Deserves the Violence Inflicted on Dallas’ Transgender Women

The headlines have been disturbing: Two black Dallas women, killed within a mile of each other in less than two weeks. One of them had been brutally attacked by a mob a month before. Last month, another was stabbed several times and left for dead.That these were transgender women in some ways is not what matters most. They were vulnerable citizens of our community and their deaths should outrage us all. They, like all of us, deserved to be safe.The slayings over the last month in Dallas have struck terror in a segment of our community already worried about increasing violence. Dallas police say their killings now make four open homicide cases — one in 2018 and another in 2015 — in which black transgender women were the victims.We still don’t know if these cases are connected, and there’s no evidence of a motive or whether these women were targeted. What we do know is that their deaths have shaken the sense of security of a community that feels singled out for who they are.All residents in this city have a right to live their lives as they please without risk of violence. These are appalling crimes against humanity. We’re encouraged that Chief U. Renee Hall has asked the FBI to help to aggressively investigate and solve them.They’ve become a wake-up call that transgender people — particularly those of color — need better protection.  Continue reading...