Fourth Black Trans Woman Killed This Year
From The Advocate:
New Orleans trans advocates say they have been left stunned by the death of Penny Proud, one of their city’s young, black trans residents, the latest casualty in the ongoing national trend of antitrans violence that has seen five trans women of color killed within the first five weeks of 2015.
Proud, 21, was fatally shot multiple times at 1:30 a.m. on February 10, according to local news report from NOLA that theNational Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs has linked to Proud. Few other details are currently available, but the first press release to address the situation, from New Orleans LGBT youth of color activist group BreakOUT!, condemned NOLA’s report for misgendering Proud.
In announcing her death, BreakOUT! has urged media to cover Proud’s story, as well as those of all trans victims, with respect for her preferred identity, name, and pronoun, which also accords with journalistic standards endorsed by the Associated Press and GLAAD. The youth group had already been writing a press release concerning the recent deaths of Yazmin Vash Payne, 33, in Los Angeles; Ty Underwood, 24, in North Tyler, Texas; Lamia Beard, 30, in Norfolk, Va.; and Lamar Edwards, 20, in Lousville, Ky., when news of Proud’s murder emerged from local sources. San Francisco resident Taja DeJesus was also discovered fatally stabbed this week.
Read more at the Advocate.