Meetri❤T-Girls

For the 14th time this year, we are saying the name of a transgender person of color who was lost to senseless violence. Ava Le’Ray Barrin, who was only 17, died in Athens, Georgia in an altercation with someone she knew. She died from a gunshot wound, and her killer was arrested. 

A candlelight memorial service for Barrin was held in Athens at 7:00 PM EDT Monday evening at the complex, and her funeral arrangements are still pending. Ava Le’Ray Barrin is not only the 14th trans person killed this year, she is now the youngest trans woman to die in the US, at age 17.  All 14 trans women murdered in the US this year have been trans women of color, with 12 of the 14 being Black. One person, Jamie Lee Wounded Arrow, was Native American, and we recently lost our first Latina in Josie Berrios.

Earlier this week, a 32-year-old transgender woman named TeeTee Dangerfield was found dead in her car from gunshot wounds. She is the 16th transgender person that we know to have been murdered in the United States this year. 

College Park Police Maj. Lance Patterson told Georgia Voice that there are currently no suspects in the shooting, and the police are unsure whether Dangerfield’s transgender identity was a motivating factor.

“At this time we don’t have anything that’s telling us that, but we’re not ruling out any possible motive,” Patterson said.

Earlier this morning, I posted about an incident from last week where comedian Lil Duval “joked” that he would kill a woman he was dating if he found out she was transgender – and on the same radio show that had just welcomed Janet Mock as a guest. A few days later, this news. It’s not a fucking joke.

This week in Houston, 26-year-old Brandi Seals was fatally shot, making her at least the 28th transgender person killed in the United States this year. 

From Logo [trigger warning in the article for misgendering by media and police]: 

With two weeks left to go, 2017 is already the deadliest on record for trans Americans, with the vast majority of the victims being trans women of color like Seals.

“Whoever took [her] life, they have to answer,” said Seals’ aunt, Maria Cheeks. “Maybe the police might not get you, but you will have to answer to one person. And that’s the higher power of God.”

This is a horrific epidemic, and we cannot let it continue. I know there’s a lot going on in the world right now, but our transgender sisters and brothers and siblings are still dying in the streets. We cannot look away.