It was less than a month ago that a mob violently beat a 23-year-old woman named Muhlaysia Booker in broad daylight. This weekend, Dallas police announced that Booker had been found dead, the fifth trans woman of color to be murdered in the US so far this year — that we know of.
The tragic violence comes at a time of escalating attacks against transgender Americans, particularly women of color.
In last month’s attack, a viral video shows a crowd of onlookers watching as a man police identified as Edward Thomas beats Booker to the ground as bystanders shout homophobic slurs. Moments earlier, Thomas and Booker had been involved in a minor fender-bender. Following an angry verbal confrontation, someone in the crowd offered Thomas $200 to assault Booker.
She was hospitalized with a concussion, fractured wrist, and facial fractures.
In the ensuing days, the video gained notoriety and police recognized and arrested Thomas during an unrelated interaction. He was subsequently released on a $75,000 bond.
Dallas’ queer community rallied around Booker in the weeks that followed, with local organizers securing her temporary housing, medical services, and legal support. The incident galvanized a push for more protections for trans people, and National Black Trans Advocacy Conference Founder Monica Roberts traveled to Austin to ask lawmakers to pass HB 1513, a bill to add gender identity to the James Byrd Hate Crimes Act.
The House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee never voted on the bill, and the current session is nearly concluded, so it will not become law this year.
Following lawmakers’ inaction, Booker was found this weekend at 7 AM, “lying facedown in the street, deceased from homicidal violence,” according to police.
Though there is no evidence to link Thomas to the killing, he was free on bond at the time and police have said that they don’t know his whereabouts.
“I remember how I felt last month when she was attacked in Dallas,” wrote Charlotte Clymer, director of communications at the Human Rights Campaign, in an email interview with them. “When she had the courage and conviction to speak out at a rally following the assault she experienced, it gave me hope in a way that not much else has. She demonstrated strength. She gave us all strength in that moment. In light of that, her death feels visceral.”
Violence against trans people has been on the rise in the United States in the last few years, with most victims being black women. According to the Human Rights Campaign, in 2018, there were 26 documented cases of a trans person being killed; in 2017, it was 29.
So far this year, there have been at least five trans people killed in the US, all of them black women — although the number may actually be higher, as police do not always correctly acknowledge victims’ gender. A woman in Philadelphia named Michelle Simone was shot and pronounced dead Sunday, marking two murders due to anti-trans violence just this weekend. Earlier this year, Dana Martin was found dead along a road in Montgomery, Alabama; Claire Legato was shot and killed in Cleveland; and Ashanti Carmon was shot in Prince George's County, Maryland.
“Until I leave this Earth, I’m going to continue on loving her in my heart, body, and soul,” said Carmon’s fiancé, Philip Williams, in a statement. “She did not deserve to leave this Earth so early.”
According to research by HRC, trans people face disproportionate danger due to a confluence of factors; generally speaking, anti-transgender stigma compounds with denial of opportunities, leading to increased risk.
That stigma can range from a lack of family acceptance to a hostile political climate to cultural marginalization, all of which can cut trans people off from resources they need to thrive, such as education and employment. HRC’s research shows that 84 percent of transgender youth do not always feel safe in the classroom, and the rate of unemployment among transgender people is three times that of the general population.
In addition, police dealings can discourage trans people from seeking help from law enforcement, leaving them with few options for protection. A report from HRC showed that 58 percent of trans people report facing some form of mistreatment from police.
With trans people denied resources and opportunities, they are more likely to find themselves in survival situations. One in three trans people reported to HRC that they live in poverty, and 41 percent of black trans people reported experiencing homelessness in their lives.
Following the initial assault on Booker, a local Dallas support group called Abounding Prosperity launched a crowdfunding drive to support her healing. But now they have posted an update that the money will be refunded to donors.
Other local groups have spoken out as well. “Muhlaysia Booker was a daughter, friend, and a valued member of the North Texas transgender community,” reads a statement from the Resource Center in Dallas, which is currently working to organize a vigil. “With the 50th anniversary of Stonewall fast approaching, a movement led by transgender women of color, we must remember their legacy. When Booker’s vigil is announced: take a stand, show up in force, and make our collective voices heard.”
A message from The Black Trans Advocacy Coalition goes further. “Now Muhlaysia has unfortunately joined the ancestors, and the negative message continues to be sent that it is open season on trans people in the Lone Star State and everywhere else in this country,” reads the statement. “When will you care that our Black Trans Lives Matter? When will Texas legislators right the wrong that occurred in the 1999 and 2001 legislative sessions that resulted in trans people being cut from the Byrd Hate Crimes Act?”
Reflecting on the most recent murders, Monica Roberts tweeted, “these persons are under 30 years old. They didn't even get a chance to live their lives. #BlackLivesMatter remember? Or does that only count for Black cis hetero lives?”
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