Attack on Transgender Woman Prompts Need for Protections for Transgender Community
Human Rights Campaign
Attack on Transgender Woman Prompts Need for Protections for Transgender Community
November 12, 2014 by HRC staff
Just last week, Candice Rose Milligan, a transgender woman in Ohio, was attacked while walking home. She was listed in critical condition, suffering from serious injuries. She is now out of the hospital and recovering at home.
NBC24 reported that three men began shouting homophobic slurs at Milligan before attacking her on the street. One of the three suspects has been identified and arrested. A preliminary hearing is set for tomorrow, Wednesday, November 12 in Toledo.
Ohio has a law that addresses hate or biased crimes, but the law does not address sexual orientation or gender identity.
Unfortunately, this attack is just one of many anti-transgender bias-related crimes in Ohio over the past nineteen months. Four trans women - Tiffany Edwards of Cincinnati, Cemia Dove of Cleveland, Nicole Kidd-Stergis of Cleveland, Betty Skinner of Cleveland- have been murdered over the last nineteen months in Ohio. Consistent with National Coalition of Anti-Violence Project's findings, a disproportionate number of these violent incidents were against transgender women of color.
According to Shane Morgan, the founder and chair of TransOhio, “For Ohio, it wasn’t a question of if; it was only a question of when. The when is now. Violence against our transgender and gender non-conforming communities is real and it is happening in our own backyard. There’s an epidemic of violence bearing down on trans women and trans communities of color. Being reactionary is not acceptable any longer. It’s time our transgender and allied communities formulate and implement real tangible steps to keep ourselves safe and curb these anti-transgender assaults and murders.” ....
MORE at http://www.hrc.org/blog/entry/attack-on-transgender-woman-prompts-need-for-protections-for-transgender-co