In a tragic benchmark of hate, the murder of Black transgender woman Marquiisha Lawrence in Greenville, South Carolina, has made 2021 the deadliest year for transgender individuals.
The Advocate’s Alex Cooper reported that Lawrence “is one of at least 45 trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming people known to have died by violence in the U.S. this year.”
That number sadly surpasses the 44 deaths recorded last year and becomes a new record for transgender murders in the country. Unfortunately, experts say many more transgender deaths likely occur each year, with a large number going unreported or being misreported.
