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I got surprisingly little pushback from my piece in Andrew Sullivan's newsletter from a few weeks ago. I really thought this one was going to explode some heads but every single message I got was supportive. https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/where-have-all-the-lesbians-gone-0a7
Andrew got a bunch of feedback as well, and almost all of it was supportive too. You can read some here: https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/the-disappearing-lesbian-your-stories
There was one dissenter, who wrote the following:
I responded in this week's newsletter, which if available in full here: https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/do-all-black-lives-matter-or-just
But here are the highlights: The idea that there is an "epidemic" of trans murder is a myth, which should be obvious when you look at the numbers. There are between 15,000 and 18,000 murders in the US in any given year. There are a few dozen trans murders, at most.
One very specific population of trans people do have higher murder rates: black trans sex workers. But the average trans person is no more likely to be murdered than anyone else, and some demographics (e.g., trans men) have very low murder rates.
There are a few isolated cases each year that may be hate crimes, but the vast majority of trans people are killed for the same reasons as anyone else: domestic violence, drugs, sex work, random bad luck.
But that's not the message you get from activists. Take, for instance, the case of Tony McDade, who has been mourned all over as the black trans victim of police brutality. https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2020/05/tony-mcdade-tallahassee-florida-police-shooting-death/
Turns out, McDade killed his 21-year-old neighbor & posted on Facebook that he was going to have a standoff with the police... who shot him when he rushed at them with a knife https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/local/2020/06/19/somebody-failed-somewhere-malik-jackson-family-warned-tony-mcdade-dangerous/5341454002/
He wasn't killed because he was trans. Most trans people are not killed because they are trans.
Trans people do face specific challenges that cis people don't, including social stigma and discrimination in employment and housing, but there's no "epidemic" of trans murders, and repeating this claim HARMS TRANS PEOPLE.
If you care about trans people, stop telling them there is an epidemic of trans murders or that trans people are being hunted or that they are destined to die violently. It's not true and thinking you're going to be murdered just for leaving your house doesn't help anyone. FIN!
Oh also big thanks to @sullydish for giving me the space to write about this and subscribe to his newsletter. It's great. https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/
