Peacock, 59, survived several bouts of cancer. But she did not survive on June 30 when she was slashed in the neck by a man who allegedly thought she was a trans woman. That man, a fellow resident in the Richmond, Ind., apartment complex where Peacock lived, has been charged with murder.
On July 2, Smith, 32, was at a Portland, Ore., bar for a night out with friends when a man reportedly began to harass and hurl homophobic slurs at a trans person in the group. When Smith, whom friends and family described as “a protector,” intervened to defend his friend, he was stabbed several times. A suspect was arrested days later and faces multiple charges, including murder.
At a time when Republican presidential candidates openly boast about the harms they will inflict on the trans community and their rights and white supremacist thugs threaten, harass, and force cancellations of family-friendly drag queen story hours, the hate they inflame does not affect trans people alone. Such sentiments foment violence that clearly puts all of us — regardless of sexual or gender identity — at risk.
-- Renee Graham, "Anti-trans violence threatens us all" (BOSTON GLOBE).