Abstract
A growing awareness of violence against LGBTQ + individuals has led to an increase in media coverage of the homicides of trans people in the United States. Media accounts involve powerful narratives which are subjective, biased, and imbued with meaning. These narratives employ “frames” that impact public perception of populations. Studies have demonstrated differences in the ways that trans victims of homicide are framed compared to cis victims, specifically regarding responsibility for the violence inflicted upon them. Trans victims are more likely to be constructed as “deviants” or criminals who are deserving of or responsible for their own homicides. In addition, these victims are framed as deceivers who deliberately obscure their gender modality from offenders, thus facilitating violent retaliation. The present study employs a mixed methods approach to analyze articles published in news media outlets about the twenty-six trans people killed in 2018. Our analysis identified more positive frames than negative frames employed by agents of social control, such as media and law enforcement, that inform narratives surrounding this unique form of violence. Yet, efforts still need to be undertaken to involve trans voices, to humanize those who have lost their lives, and most importantly, to prevent this violence. This article discusses implications for how these organizations can begin to transform these narratives to describe accurately trans victims of homicide.
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Notes
We use the terms “trans” and “cis” rather than “transgender” and “cisgender.” This is to be consistent with use of the terms “trans woman” and “trans man” throughout the manuscript. “Trans” is an adjective that describes someone’s gender identity, as is the term “cis.” The outdated terminology “transwoman” (without a space between “trans” and “woman”) has been used to dehumanize trans women by creating a separate category of gender that sets women who are trans apart from “women” who are cis (and similarly with “transman”). The use of the term “trans woman” indicates that trans women are women, and the adjective “trans” modifies the noun “woman” (Holleb 2019). The term “trans” indicates a category of gender, rather than a specific gender that is not “woman.”
Because police departments do not always report accurately the gender of homicide victims, there may be more trans victims whose deaths have not come to the attention of the Human Rights Campaign or the greater trans community.
The full list of 2018 homicide victims can be found at https://www.hrc.org/resources/violence-against-the-transgender-community-in-2018.
We recognize that these terms have different definitions, but they frequently appeared interchangeably in news articles. “Prostitution” is a term used to criminalize “sex work” (Haak 2018).
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Acknowledgments
We appreciate the assistance of Madison LaSala, who assisted with data collection in the early phase of this study. We are also grateful for the useful comments provided by two anonymous reviewers, as well as input from the guest editor, Rita Shah, on the final version of this manuscript.
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Appendix: List of 2018 Trans Homicide Victims
Appendix: List of 2018 Trans Homicide Victims
Name | Date of homicide | Location of homicide |
|---|---|---|
Christa Leigh Steele-Knudslien | January 5 | North Adams, MA |
Viccky Gutierrez | January 10 | Los Angeles, CA |
Celine Walker | February 4 | Jacksonville, FL |
Tonya Harvey | February 6 | Buffalo, NY |
Zakaria Fry | February 19 | Albuquerque, NM |
Phylicia Mitchell | February 23 | Cleveland, OH |
Amia Tyrae Berryman | March 26 | Baton Rouge, LA |
Sasha Wall | April 1 | Chesterfield, SC |
Karla Patricia Flores-Pavon | May 9 | Dallas, TX |
Nicole Hall | May 12 | Dallas, TX |
Nino Fortson | May 13 | Atlanta, GA |
Gigi Pierce | May 21 | Portland, OR |
Antash'a English | June 1 | Jacksonville, FL |
Diamond Stephens | June 18 | Meridian, MS |
Cathalina Christina James | June 24 | Jacksonville, FL |
Keisha Wells | June 24 | Cleveland, OH |
Sasha Garden | July 19 | Orlando, FL |
Vontashia Bell | August 30 | Shreveport, LA |
Dejanay Stanton | August 30 | Chicago, IL |
Shantee Tucker | September 5 | Philadelphia, PA |
Londonn Moore | September 8 | North Port, FL |
Nikki Enriquez | September 15 | Laredo, TX |
Ciara Minaj Carter Frazier | October 3 | Chicago, IL |
Regina Denise Brown | October 7 | Orangeburg, SC |
Tydi Dansbury | November 26 | Detroit, MI |
Keanna Mattel | December 7 | Dallas, TX |
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DeJong, C., Holt, K., Helm, B. et al. “A Human Being Like Other Victims”: The Media Framing of Trans Homicide in the United States. Crit Crim 29, 131–149 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-021-09559-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-021-09559-z