Reacting to a ProPublica report on how
police investigate the murders of transgender women, Laverne Cox
called the misgendering of transgender people is “act of violence.”
ProPublica investigated how police in
Jacksonville, Florida are handling three unsolved murders of
transgender women. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office has repeatedly
identified the victims as men and used their former names, or dead
names.
Misgendering transgender victims not
only adds insult to injury but may also be contributing to the
lower-than-average clearance rate for transgender murders in the
United States.
“Advocates say that not using the
name and pronoun a person was known by can slow down an investigation
during its most critical hours,” ProPublica
wrote. “People who knew the victim or who saw them in the
hours before they were murdered might only have known them by their
preferred name and gender.”
In
tweeting a link to the article, Cox (Orange is the New Black)
said that she once considered suicide.
“Many years ago when I was
contemplating suicide, I was planning to have a note in my pocket at
the time of my death and several other notes in my home which would
state my name, preferred gender pronouns and that I should be
referred to as a woman in my death,” she wrote. “Being
misgendered and deadnamed in my death felt like it would be the
ultimate insult to the psychological and emotional injuries I was
experiencing daily as a black trans woman in New York City, the
injuries that made me want to take my own life.”
Cox also commented on police
departments that as a matter of policy identify transgender victims
based on what is listed on their state identification.
“I have been saying for years that
misgendering a trans person is an act of violence. When I say that I
am referring to cultural and structural violence,” Cox said. “The
police misgendering and deadnamng trans murder victims as a matter of
policy feels like a really good example of that cultural and
structural violence.”