“Black trans bodies are under attack”: gender non-conforming homicide victims in the U.S. 1995-2014
Graduation Date
2015
Document Type
Thesis
Program
Other
Program
Thesis (M.A.)--Humboldt State University, Sociology, 2015
Committee Chair Name
Meredith Williams
Committee Chair Affiliation
HSU Faculty or Staff
Keywords
Overkill, Homicide, Humboldt State University -- Theses -- Sociology, LGBT, Hate crime, Gender, Institutional violence, Transgender, Race, Media, Crime, Interpersonal violence, Bodies, State violence, Violence
Abstract
As argued by transgender actress and activist Laverne Cox (2014), black transgender bodies are under attack. This multi-level attack is happening through high rates of interpersonal and institutional violence, discrimination and dehumanization. It is also happening at the level of state violence, and the devaluation of black trans bodies. In this thesis, I explore each of these levels of attack, and see how this is reflected in one particular arena of the transgender experience in the United States: the homicide of transgender women. As I will show in this thesis, based on content analysis of 629 news article discussing the deaths of 259 transgender and gender non-conforming individuals between 1995 and 2014, African American transgender individuals are more likely to be killed, and with extreme violence, compared to their counterparts, and the rate may be increasing over time. This study demonstrates evidence of interpersonal, institutional and state devaluation of black trans bodies.
Recommended Citation
Teal, Janae L., "“Black trans bodies are under attack”: gender non-conforming homicide victims in the U.S. 1995-2014" (2015). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 2213.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/2213
https://scholarworks.calstate.edu/concern/theses/6q182n692