Targeting Transgenders: A fragile
group under siege
Newsweek,
September 8, 2003
251 West 57th Street, New York, NY, 10019
(Fax: 212-445-4120 ) (
www.newsweek.com )
Targeting Transgenders: A fragile group under
siege -- A rash of killings has Washington, D.C.'s 'trans'community on edge.
By Holly Bailey, Newsweek
Bella Evangelista may have been born a man, but to her friends she was
always a lady. Born Elvys Augusto Perez in Guatemala, the 25-year-old
immigrant to Washington, D.C., had lived and dressed as a woman for more
than nine years. Evangelista favored miniskirts, high heels and heavy
makeup, and wore long, straight hair to emulate her fashion idol, Jennifer
Lopez. A popular drag performer in Washington's gay and transgender
nightclub scene, Evangelista won talent contests lip-syncing to Gloria
Estefan tunes. "She was a Latin diva, 100 percent woman, 24/7," says Ruby
Bracamonte, one of Evangelista's closest friends. But offstage, life wasn't
nearly as glamorous. Like many transgenders, Evangelista had trouble finding
a day job. She struggled with a persistent drug habit, and occasionally
resorted to an especially risky form of prostitution - soliciting straight
men on the street without telling them her true gender. In the early morning
hours of Aug. 16, Evangelista was gunned down by a man police say had paid
Evangelista for oral sex, then became enraged when he discovered Evangelista
was not really a woman. A suspect, 22-year-old Antoine Jacobs, was captured
fleeing the scene on a bicycle. Police say he told them that he fired only
after Evangelista tried to rob him.
Evangelista's killing was gruesome, but it wasn't unique. In the past year
four other transgender men have been found brutally murdered in the
Washington area. Another was attacked and narrowly survived. Police say that
so far, they have found no connections between the crimes. The unsolved
killings have enraged the "trans" community, whose members call Washington a
"deathtrap for the transgendered" and accuse police of giving the cases
short shrift. (Nationwide, nine other transgenders have been murdered in the
past 12 months, according to Remembering Our Dead, a San Francisco-based
activist group.)
It began last summer when 18-year-old Deon Davis, who went by the name Ukea,
and 19-year-old Wilbur Thomas, known as Stephanie, were gunned down in
southeast Washington. In April, Kevin Young, 38, also known as Kim
or Mimi, was found stabbed in northwest Washington. Then, late last month,
four days after Evangelista's murder, 24-year-old Dee Walker, known as Dee
Andre, was shot near the U.S. Capitol. Walker survived, but is still in the
hospital. Later that same night, police discovered the body of 25-year-old
Aaryn Marshall, known as Emonie Kiera Spaulding, dumped in a wooded area in
southeast Washington. They charged Derrick Lewis, 22, but have no motive in
the case. "Right now, it's all speculation," says Sgt. Joe Gentile. Lewis's
lawyer had no comment.
In the absence of arrests, the police have tried to calm nerves by
increasing the visibility of its recently formed Gay and Lesbian Liaison
Unit. Originally intended as an outreach office to smooth tensions between
cops and the gay community, it now investigates hate crimes. Sgt. Brett
Parson, the unit's tough, gay leader, was the city's top drug cop. He says
he spends a lot of time teaching compassion to fellow officers-advising
them, for instance, not to refer to transgender men as "it" in police
reports. "[Transgenders] are very scared to talk to the police," says
Parson. "I mean, they live a tough life without all of this pressure."
If transgender activists were hoping for an outpouring of support from the
city at large, it has yet to materialize. Two vigils were held at the site
of Evangelista's shooting in the days after the crime. Friends and neighbors
lit candles and created a makeshift memorial of pictures, teddy bears and
sheet music of her favorite show tunes. By the next morning, someone had
smashed the memorial to bits.
With T. Trent
Gegax |
