Hillary Clinton Agrees Transphobic Violence Is a ‘National Crisis’
Following up on her sweeping speech to Human Rights Campaign volunteers last weekend, Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton acknowledged Friday that the unabated murders of transgender women constitutes a “national crisis,” reports BuzzFeed News.
In a private meeting with Black Lives Matter activists in Washington, D.C., Clinton recognized that the reported 20 transgender women killed in the U.S. this year — most of whom have been trans women of color — signify what advocates have long called an “epidemic” of violence that Clinton hopes to combat if elected president.
Although the meeting was closed to the public, BuzzFeed News reports that trans activist Cherno Biko, who works to support the families of trans women killed, was in attendance, and spoke passionately about the fear she lives with daily as a black transgender woman.
“I think it’s really important to have [Clinton’s] voice as a part of this conversation,” Biko told BuzzFeed News. “We need all hands on deck.”
“[Clinton] acknowledged that it’s not her lived reality,” added Ferguson Commission’s Brittany Packnett, according to BuzzFeed News. “I don’t think she offered yet a lot of specifics about how to protect the most vulnerable among us, especially trans women of color. But it seemed like she wanted to do more listening on the topic which was encouraging."
http://www.advocate.com/election/2015/10/10/hillary-clinton-agrees-transphobic-violence-national-crisis
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