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Transgender Murder in Lynchburg Not the First in the Region

Images Courtesy of VAVP

 

Police in Lynchburg are currently investigating the murder of Ebony Morgan, a transgender woman. Morgan had been shot multiple times before she was found and taken to the hospital last Sunday. But Morgan is not the first transgender victim in Virginia, and it has the region’s LGBTQ community shaken. 

 

 

 

Noony Norwood was shot and killed in Richmond last November. India Monroe was murdered in Newport News in December. And now Ebony Morgan in Lynchburg. All three were black transgender women. Their murders are still unsolved, so it’s impossible to  know if they were targeted because they were transgender. 

 

“The fear is an inevitable consequence of somebody in your community getting shot and we don’t know exactly why," says Stacie Vecchietti, the director of the Virginia Anti-Violence Project.

 

The group works to reduce violence in the LGBT community through education and dialogue. She says even if a murder isn’t motivated by hate, discrimination can still play a role. 

 

“When people are discriminated against in employment and have a hard time getting jobs that pay a living wage it makes them more vulnerable to violence," Vecchietti says. "When folks are not able to secure safe and stable housing they’re at more risk for violence.” 

 

The majority of homicide victims in the LGBTQ community are transgender women of color. 

 

Zakia McKensey is the Transgender Community Advocate at the Virginia Anti-Violence Project. 

 

“People need to understand that it’s not a choice to be transgender, because who wants to have to deal with everything that we have to deal with on a day-to-day basis," McKensey says. "Who makes the choice to be discriminated against on a regular basis? Who makes the choice to deal with violence?”

 

The Virginia Anti Violence Project aims to reduce violence against the LGBTQ community, as well as within the community. They host workshops for teachers and police, and provide support through a 24-hour hotline

This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association

 

 

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