Transgender woman's death ruled homicide.

[lightningandsnow]

Police ruled the death of a Pennsylvania transgender woman, who was found dead in her home earlier this week, a homicide by strangulation and asphyxiation Wednesday, according to reports.

The body of 31-year-old Stacey Lee, identified by police as Michael Lee, was found partially dressed and face down by her live-in boyfriend in her Point Breeze home Monday night, according to the Philadelphia Daily News.

Authorities say they dont consider the boyfriend a suspect and are still unsure of the motive behind her death. Though police are not ruling out any possibilities that may had led to Stacey's murder, Homicide Sgt. Bob Wilkins said there wasn't enough information to call it a hate crime, the Daily News reported.

"We're getting a lot of information from the neighbors down there and other people that we're digging into right now," Wilkins told the paper.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20019631-504083.html

The murder of trans women is an epidemic. Trans people, especially women, have huge rates of victimization, especially considering they are quite a small part of the population. This has got to stop. :cry:

[TexasObserver]

1. K&R

[ThomCat]

2. Hate crimes against the trans community are almost as common

as trans people themselves, because far too many people seem to think that anyone who is different is a target, and fair game for all kinds of abuse.

They can't tolerate the idea that gender isn't as neat and tidy as they have always believed. They can't stand the idea that gender roles aren't absolute, and don't conform to the stereotypes they love so much.

And they really can't tolerate the idea that someone else's life, someone else's gender, someone else's body, someone else's life might be None Of Their Damned Business. :(

So when they find out that someone has a life that exists outside of the strict definitions they insist must be the natural order of things, they get violent. Trans people suffer and die because of it. x(

MtF trans folks get targeted in greater numbers because OMG, how dare any man willingly become a woman! That seems to be so much more offensive to a lot of the bigots than being FtM. The idea that any guy would give up being a guy offends them. The idea that anyone would willingly choose to be a woman, as if it was better than being a guy.

And, of course, violence against women is already an epidemic, so the bigot will target our MtF trans folk just because they are women, on top of the all the hatred against them for being trans. :(

Police won't take the harassment and violence seriously until after people are dead, and often not even then. How often do we hear mocking comments from police when they ask their questions and write their police reports? x(

One of my friends was attacked recently by a couple of teens because they couldn't figure out whether he was a boy or a girl. He's okay, thankfully. But it sucks having to worry about whether there will be more attacks. I wish there was something we could do. :(

[lightningandsnow]

3. I wish I could reccomend replies.

:hug:

[BlueIris]

4. Awful. Rec for awareness. nt