Transgender individuals in the U.S. are subject to higher rates of violence, particularly homicides. There have been reports indicating an all time high of violence against this community since 2013. Most of these homicides were not prosecuted as hate crimes. Most of these homicides were not highly publicized. Most of these homicide victims were transgender women of color.

According to the Human Rights Campaign, the government began tracking crimes related to transgender individuals in 2013. During this year, at least 19 transgender people were victims of homicide. In 2014, there were at least thirteen. In 2015, there were at least twenty-one. In 2016, there are at least twenty-one (other reports have claimed twenty-six) victims so far. There is difficulty in affirming some of the homicides as hate crimes or due to their identity because of the lack of information or convictions for the cases. Since 2013, there have been seventy-four transgender victims of homicide, ninety-three percent of those being transgender people of color, and nine in ten of the victims being transgender women. So were all of these homicides due to our homophobic, sexist, transphobic and racist environment that have been ingrained in our culture?

Our nation has proved time and again to be unaccepting and unsafe for many marginalized groups. For a nation founded on the notion of ‘liberty and justice for all’ I would argue this is an exclusive right. I would argue that unless you are a white, cis-gendered, heterosexual individual, that "liberty and justice for all" is not an attainable American dream for minorities today. For example, policing individual’s bathroom use is based upon the ideology that gender and sex must match or else the individual is deemed confused, mentally ill, a pervert or a predator. The government does not police cis-gendered individuals bathroom use. Is this because cis-gender individuals are considered as abiding to the ‘natural’ and holy order of things? Or because the majority always has exclusive access to any public facility and therefore it is the government’s priority to keep the popular mass safe. The majority has the most exclusive right to safety in America and it is the the marginalized and excluded that truly need safety and laws implemented to support their rights. According to the Human Rights Campaign report, seventy percent of transgender people in the U.S. have reported being attacked, harassed, and even being denied access to a restroom. According to an article posted by Time magazine, transgender individuals are more likely to suffer harassment, live in poverty, and experience unemployment. All of the factors can increase the probability of experiencing and enduring violence. All of these factors and the factor of a nonconforming gender identity can increase the probability of being a victim of homicide. Being an ethnic minority, the risk increases even further.

Has the growing acceptance and progress of the LGBTQ community frightened the people who oppose LGBTQ rights enough that they are resorting to homicidal tendencies and promotion of bathroom laws to improve the majorities safety? Does the way that one identifies themselves have to relate to everyone in America in order for it to be considered valid? One of the biggest arguments I hear about transgender individuals is that people just don’t understand. And again, I am not sure why something needs to be understood with scientific or medical justification in order to be legitimized. I don’t understand how someone can believe in a spiritual entity such as God, however I don’t delegitimize people who do, and I would never question that identity. The transgender community needs not understanding, but rather unconditional acceptance (and LOVE), through community awareness and the correct media attention. This is the only way these hate homicides and bills will diminish and cease to exist. This is the only way these issues will become important and influence people to finally realize that it is the minority that requires safety and needs support the most.