"As long as this culture makes excuses for violence against women, against trans folks, and against trans women in particular, and as long as this culture makes it very high-stakes for a man to contemplate the label of his sexual and affectional orientation, we will keep seeing the same acts of violence."
-YesMeansYes Blog.
Today was an incredible day brought about through incredible tragedy. Angie Zapata, a transgender woman from Colorado was murdered, and today a jury found that the killing was motivated by hate - the first for any crime against a trans person. The murderer, whose name doesn't even deserve mentioning, was found guilty and will spend the rest of his life in prison. The defense repeatedly referred to Angie Zapata with male pronouns, though she was presenting as woman for a while before her death and identified that way. Their main argument was that it was a crime of passion - that Angie knowingly deceived him and when he found out, it was all he could do NOT to kill her. (Even though he went to traffic court with her and heard her male name read aloud 36 hours before he beat her to death with a fire extinguisher, communicated with her over 300 text messages, and despite her history of disclosing her trans status to other partners.) Obviously, bullshit like this doesnt always stand up in court, and thank God.
Sometimes, this justice system and ordinary people get it right. I just wish it didn't have to happen like this.
Today was an incredible day brought about through incredible tragedy. Angie Zapata, a transgender woman from Colorado was murdered, and today a jury found that the killing was motivated by hate - the first for any crime against a trans person. The murderer, whose name doesn't even deserve mentioning, was found guilty and will spend the rest of his life in prison. The defense repeatedly referred to Angie Zapata with male pronouns, though she was presenting as woman for a while before her death and identified that way. Their main argument was that it was a crime of passion - that Angie knowingly deceived him and when he found out, it was all he could do NOT to kill her. (Even though he went to traffic court with her and heard her male name read aloud 36 hours before he beat her to death with a fire extinguisher, communicated with her over 300 text messages, and despite her history of disclosing her trans status to other partners.) Obviously, bullshit like this doesnt always stand up in court, and thank God.
Sometimes, this justice system and ordinary people get it right. I just wish it didn't have to happen like this.
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