TW: discription of murder, misgendering, mention of drugs, transphobia
A 20-year-old transgender woman was found three weeks after she went missing half-naked with numerous stab wounds
by Scott McCabe
TW: trans* hate, anti-trans* violence, sex worker violence
A D.C. police officer is going on probation after being sentenced Thursday to the 14 months behind bars he already served for shooting at a car full of transgender prostitutes who refused to pick him up. Kenneth Furr, 48, was found guilty in October of several charges, including assault with intent to kill while armed.
D.C. Superior Court Judge Russell Canan sentenced Furr to five years in prison and 30 days for solicitation of prostitution, and suspended all but 14 months of that time on the condition that Furr successfully complete three years of supervised probation. The judge credited the time that Furr had already spent in custody toward his sentence; as a result, Furr remains free and is now on probation.
According to charging documents, in the early morning hours of Aug. 26, 2011, Furr, who was off duty, attempted to pick up transgender prostitutes in the area of Fifth and K streets NW. Furr followed one of them into the CVS pharmacy at 400 Massachusetts Avenue, and continued to solicit one of the prostitutes. The store’s security officer, and off-duty D.C. police officer, asked Furr to leave.
Outside the store, he pulled gun on one of the victims, who then reported the incident to the security officer at the pharmacy, charging documents said. After Furr identified himself as a police officer, the security officer ceased his investigation and let him go, prosecutors said. About 20 minutes later, the transgender group drove by and found Furr in the area of 5th and K trying to pick up another transgender prostitute.
The complainants pulled their car next to Furr’s, and at least one of the occupants in the complainants’ car assaulted Furr. Furr sped off and the complainants’ car followed. Furr got out of his vehicle and began shooting toward their vehicle. The driver of the victims’ car ducked and hit the accelerator, crashing into the side of Furr’s vehicle. Furr then jumped on the hood of the occupied vehicle and continued shooting, firing a total of five rounds. Three of the occupants of the car suffered injuries.
It wasn’t the first time Furr has gotten into trouble. He was arrested in 2004 for driving while intoxicated and operating while impaired, according to court records. He pleaded no contest and the charges were dropped after he completed a diversion program.
(via riley-ferretboy-konor)
Source: projectqueer
It’s hard to talk about. All this time later, having moved halfway across a continent, having had several jobs since, it still hurts. “Hurt” is inadequate; it leaves me enraged and panicky. Which, I expect, is not all that unusual.
We mostly hear about lost income when we hear about employment discrimination. Income is important; things cost money. But there are other costs, things we couldn’t sue for even if there are laws against the discrimination that cost you your job. Even if you can prove that it was discrimination, which is actually very difficult.
The awesome kaninchen on the not-so-hidden costs of being fired because of who you are.
(via kiriamaya)
Source: se-smith
CeCe McDonald is not just the victim of a hate crime: she is, moreover, the victim of a racist and transphobic criminal punishment system. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Website, in a post about McDonald’s sentencing, stated, “Gender, race, sexual orientation and class are not part of the decision-making process.” The post went on to call the plea of second-degree manslaughter “a just resolution.” For the Hennepin County Attorney, who has played such an integral role in incarcerating McDonald, to state that the situation is “just,” is an insult to McDonald’s suffering.
The racism and transphobia that McDonald is experiencing is by no means unique. Trans women are up to 15 times more likely to be incarcerated than the general population. Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey found that 47% of black trans people surveyed had been incarcerated. 38% of black trans people had been harassed or assaulted by the police because of bias. A video (warning: contains graphic discussions of physical and sexual assault and transphobic slurs) from the Transgender and Intersex Project, which interviewed trans women, who have been victims of the prison-industrial complex, included telling statements about the horrors of the system. One woman stated, “prison is the worst thing anyone can go through.” Another said, “I wouldn’t be able to get my hormones and medications that I need.”
Stand your ground - unless you’re a person of color. God forbid you be a woman of color, or even worse, a trans woman of color!
Source: transfeminism
A twenty-five year old woman was found dead in a four-story Brooklyn apartment building that caught on fire early Saturday morning. Police identified the victim as Lorena Escalera.
The New York Times on the other hand identified the woman that died in the fire as “curvaceous,” someone who “drew admiring glances” in her “gritty Brooklyn neighborhood,” and noted she was known to invite men for visits to her apartment.
Just to make sure we’re all on the same a page, a woman was found dead and the first sentence in the New York Times story about the incident was: “She was 25 and curvaceous, and she often drew admiring glances in the gritty Brooklyn neighborhood where she was known to invite men for visits to her apartment, her neighbors and the authorities said.”
The two Times writers Al Baker and Nate Schweber said Escalera was “called Lorena,” as opposed to saying she was “named Lorena” or that she simply was Lorena.
The story that should have been about an apartment fire or even a suspicious fire instead turned in to the reporters interviewing neighbors about who Escalera was supposedly sleeping with and how she dressed.
Below is an excerpt from Baker and Schweber’s story published in the Times on Saturday:
Oscar Hernandez, 30, a mechanic, said she had had some of her ribs removed in an effort to slim her waist.
“For a man, he was gorgeous,” Mr. Hernandez said, noting Ms. Escalera’s flowing hair and “hourglass figure.”
Gary Hernandez, 25, a neighbor, said that Ms. Escalera had worked as an escort and that he regularly saw her advertising her service on an adult Web site.
“She was always on her laptop posting ads about herself,” said Mr. Hernandez (who is not related to Oscar Hernandez). “Still, she was a nice person.”
A debris pile outside the apartment, which is above a funeral home, contained many colorful items. Among them were wigs, women’s shoes, coins from around the world, makeup, hair spray, handbags, a shopping bag from Spandex House, a red feather boa and a pamphlet on how to quit smoking.
Aaron McQuade, GLAAD’s Director of News and Field Media questions how the Times would have covered the story if the word “transgender” was out of the equation:
Would the New York Times ever describe a woman who is not transgender, who had died in a fire, as “curvaceous” - in the first sentence, no less? Would it carefully note that her apartment contained makeup and “women’s shoes?” Would it say that she was “called” whatever her name was - especially if police later identified her by that name?
McQuade noted on GLAAD’s blog his organization has reached out the Times to ensure that “exploitative pieces like this” aren’t printed in the future.
(via stfusexists)
Source: transfeminism
TW for pretty much everything
1. Dan Savage hates trans people and uses transphobic slurs.
“Children have a right to some stability and constancy from the adults in their lives. Perhaps I’m a transphobic bigot, but I honestly think waiting a measly 36 months to cut your dick is a sacrifice any father should be willing to make for his 15-year-old son. Call me old-fashioned.
Unfortunately, your ex wasn’t willing to make that sacrifice (selfish tranny!), or it never occurred to him to make that sacrifice (stupid tranny!)…. If your son can’t deal with having his dad/mom/whatever around right now, support him and tell his dad/mom/whatever to leave the two of you alone for the time being.”
2. Dan Savage believes that bisexuals do not and should not exist.
“I’m not saying bi guys are bad people, or they don’t make great one-night stands. Bushes, bathhouses, and sleazy gay bars are crawling with bi guys. But if a guy wants more, he’ll have an easier time getting it from another gay man.”
3. Dan Savage has admonished women for not putting up with their partner’s sexual desires and has criticized female rape survivors’ stories.
“There the guy was, boned for you, and he was brave enough to put his desires out there, to make himself vulnerable (which is what the ladies are always saying they want, right?), and you lobbed the ol’ “What?!?” bomb at him and made him feel like a freak. Is it any wonder that he quickly moved on to “other things” and, one would hope, better sex partners?”
“I’m extremely sorry that you were raped, DRARS, although your baseless accusations of rape make me doubt you when you claim to be a survivor of rape. The feminist bloggers are going to accuse me of thought crimes: If a woman says she was raped then, by God, she was raped. (Tell it to the lacrosse team.) But if my reaction to your letter is a thought crime, I can only plead entrapment: I wouldn’t have had these illegal thoughts if you hadn’t sent me such a stupid letter in the first place… Finally, DRARS, I hereby withdraw my consent for you to read Savage Love. If you continue to read my column against my will, well, we all know what word to apply to your actions.”
4. Dan Savage thinks that racist gay white men are less of a threat to African-Americans than homophobic African-Americans are to gay people.
“I do know this, though: I’m done pretending that the handful of racist gay white men out there—and they’re out there, and I think they’re scum—are a bigger problem for African Americans, gay and straight, than the huge numbers of homophobic African Americans are for gay Americans, whatever their color.”
EDIT: Here are some more lovely gems from our resident asshole Dan Savage on his rampant hatred for everything not white, male, and gay:
5. Dan Savage thinks asexuals are secretly “fags”.
“I appreciate the feedback, Stephanie, and I’m sorry I offended you. But… um… I couldn’t help but think, as I read your letter, that your boyfriend is either a fool or a fag. But if it works for you guys—if a romantic relationship devoid of sexual attraction and activity works for you guys—then it works for you guys. Who am I to argue with success?”
6. Dan Savage is fatphobic.
“First off, LARDASS, you neglected to include a sign-off, forcing me to create one for you. I tried to create one that captured the spirit and tone of your letter, and I think I did pretty well… I am thoroughly annoyed at having my tame statements of fact—being heavy is a health risk; rolls of exposed flesh are unsightly—characterized as ‘hate speech.’”
one time he called me a Stalinist in the Daily Beast and it was one of the proudest moments of my life
Source: forgetpolitics
Source: hollowpikeman
Violence is more than just assault. Political violence exists in institutional discrimination. People being denied housing, a source of income, medical care, etc, that’s all violence.
(via pissykitty)
how do people like this exist? i’m so saddened…
Yup, that’s what I keep saying! Why wont Tumblr remove HATE BLOGS?
“gaynotqueer” post nothing but Trans-Hate & Transmisogyny!
Please EVERYONE, Report this HATE blog http://gaynotqueer.tumblr.com/ & get it removed from Tumblr, we don’t need this kind of hate on here!!
(via pissykitty)
Source: thisisthefaceofjewishvengeance
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