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TAMPA, Fla — According to the Human Rights Campaign, HRC, at the least 57 transgender or gender-nonconforming people had been violently killed in 2021.
It’s a quantity that has steadily climbed for the previous couple of years and the HRC mentioned Black and brown trans women are most frequently the victims. This grim actuality is one which the trans group lives with daily.
Lucas Wehle is a former chief with PFLAG Tampa, an LGBTQ+ ally group. He mentioned the variety of deaths is already climbing in 2022.
“Every year we see it get worse before it gets better. But, it’s really difficult to know when it’s going to take that turn,” mentioned Wehle.
Another quantity that’s necessary to Wehle is 46. His buddy Jenny, a trans lady identified to the Sulphur Springs space, was recognized because the forty sixth trans individual killed final 12 months.
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We first spoke to Wehle a month after Jenny’s demise. Now, Tampa police say they’ve charged her suspected killer with her homicide and the homicide of one other lady within the space.
According to pre-trial paperwork, Damien Marshall is charged with first-degree homicide in connection to the demise of Linda Harris. She was discovered lifeless in late September in an outdated home on Sligh Avenue that was set to be demolished.
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Those similar paperwork present that two months later in November, Jenny was discovered lifeless close to a house in Sulfur Springs. Marshall can also be going through a first-degree homicide cost in connection to her case.
Both women had been mentioned to be discovered with “wounds” on their our bodies. According to TPD, Marshall admitted to having intercourse with each women however mentioned that they had been alive when he left.
ABC Action News hasn’t been capable of get involved with Harris’ household, however we did communicate to Wehle, once more, about Jenny. He mentioned Damien being charged does not carry a full sense of closure.
Damien Marshall Pre-trial Docs by ABC Action News on Scribd
“Maybe closure in the sense that we’re not looking and wondering anymore? But no, it doesn’t bring her back and it certainly doesn’t help any other case that is very similar to hers as well, this one was just closer to home,” mentioned Wehle.
Wehle mentioned Jenny’s homicide is very troubling given the rising violence towards individuals who establish as transgender. He additionally mentioned most of the time, on the subject of homicide like Jenny’s, the sufferer is aware of their killer in some capability.
“A transwoman may meet up with someone if they’re in a dating setting and from there either they didn’t know she was trans or they find out she was trans or sometimes they know someone else finds out that she’s trans,” mentioned Wehle.
He added that higher training in regards to the LGBTQ+ group is vital to slicing down on any such violence.
Here are a number of Tampa Bay space LGBTQ+ assets:
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