Two Floridians are among at least 33 transgender and gender nonconforming people killed since the last Transgender Day of Remembrance one year ago Monday.
A report from the Human Rights Campaign highlights those two Floridians: Camdyn Rider of Winter Park outside of Orlando and London Price of Miami-Dade. They died within a few months of each other in 2023.
Out of the at least 33 transgender and gender nonconforming people killed within the 12 months, 26 lost their lives in 2023, according to the report. Cases are likely undercounted given that people may not be identified by their gender identity. Floridians account for 9% of the approximately 335 trans and gender nonconforming people who have died because of violence in 2013, according to the report.
“In life, each of the individuals memorialized in this report went to extraordinary lengths to live authentically. In death, we must honor their truth and bravery with action,” the report states.
Rider, a 21-year-old transgender man, died on July 21 after his partner shot him, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, which misgendered Rider in a press release. Rider was eight months pregnant, according to the Human Rights Campaign article mourning him. Dying under these circumstances is not uncommon; intimate partners represent 22.4% of the identified killers, according to the report.
Price, a 26-year-old trans woman, was fatally shot in front of her family members on Oct. 23. She was the fifth Black trans or gender nonconforming person killed in October, according to a Human Rights Campaign article about her death. Black trans women face an elevated risk of fatal violence; Human Rights Campaign estimates that they account for 61.8% of known victims between 2013 to 2023.
Gunfire accounted for 233 trans or gender nonconforming people who have died this way in this decade.
The report mentions that more than 220 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced in state legislatures in 2023. Florida also has been the site of anti-transgender laws and policies.
“Against this backdrop of discriminatory legislation, attacks on the transgender and gender nonconforming community, as well as the LGBTQ+ community and its allies writ large, are on the rise. Proponents of anti-trans legislation in state houses and Congress have often relied on hate-filled rhetoric that demonizes transgender people and their allies, perpetuates misinformation, and legitimizes anti-trans stigma, violence, and hate,” the report states.
This article originally appeared in florida phoenix