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comment by user-inactivated
user-inactivated  ·  3164 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The Rise of American Authoritarianism

    over 20 trans women were murdered for being trans last year.

Not to be flippant, but is that all? I honestly expected that number to be higher. Roughly 1700 children under the age of six were killed due to parental neglect in 2014, and that number does not count outright homicides due to violence, most of which are firearm related. Homicide is the leading cause of death to children under six in the US. With the recent talk of a wave of homicide against trans people, I expected that number to be about equal with childhood deaths for some reason.

    I'm curious what will happen if for some reason Trump can't get a majority of delegates, and is maneuvered out of the GOP candidacy (the establishment hates him enough to try it). Will he take it lying down? will he run as a 3rd party candidate? what will happen with the GOP?

From my own anecdotal exposure to GOP diehards, I can offer the following. If Trump wins, many Evangelicals are going to stay home. If the nominee is Cruz, expect record Evangelical turnout for the good Christian boy. There are people active right now in the GOP who won't vote "R" if there is no Trump on the ticket, and I don't think that Trump's ego will allow him to run as VP. So, it looks to me that it will be a wash and the general election tally will depend on how many Sander's supporters stay home when Hillary wins.

The Trump effect, much like the Sanders effect will be more felt in the down races. Trump gets in, expect more R's in the state and local win columns with the increased turnout. Sanders gets the nod and Trump gets hosed? Expect at least a minor D wave at the state and Congress level. The one thing that I do fee confident in predicting is that election day is going to be bananas. Long lines, faulty equipment, untrained election workers, Polling place chaos, etc. Early voting needs to be made national, but that is another post in another thread.





coffeesp00ns  ·  3164 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    Not to be flippant, but is that all? I honestly expected that number to be higher.

well, it's complicated. people are misgendered when they are reported dead, for example, and some people disappear and are never found. Trans women (especially trans women of colour) are disproportionally likely to go into sex work, which can be a dangerous line of work. That said, murders in the US aren't as bad as somewhere like Brazil, which had at least 48 trans women murdered in january alone.

PrettyIceCube  ·  3164 days ago  ·  link  ·  

How many children under the age of six were murdered because they were children under the age of 6? That's the number you actually want to compare.

How many straight white men were murdered because they were straight white men? I'd be surprised if there was more than 20, even though they outnumber trans women by like 100 times.

user-inactivated  ·  3163 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    How many straight white men were murdered because they were straight white men? I'd be surprised if there was more than 20, even though they outnumber trans women by like 100 times.

At the risk of taking the conversation off topic, this get to the root why I am against any and all hate crime laws and legislation. It should not matter WHY a crime was committed. Let's stick with murder. If the guilty party screams "jew" or "protestant" or "kraut" or "queer" should it matter to the point of whether the crime was committed? The courts in my perfect fantasy world should be focused on one and only one question: DID THE ACCUSED COMMIT THE CRIME? The circumstances can be argued in sentencing to offer leniency or throw away the key.

Adding the motive to the crime adds complexity to the prosecution that IMO distracts from the guilt or innocence of the accused. And I realize that with the emotions surrounding crime that this is a Pollyanna view of the courts. But I also will argue that the courts should not be emotional and almost detached so that they can deal with facts and reality.

PrettyIceCube  ·  3163 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Looking at hate crimes an a population level provides incredibly useful information. Only considering the legal system is narrow minded.

user-inactivated  ·  3163 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Again, not being flippant or anything, but I don't get this. What useful information is provided?

PrettyIceCube  ·  3163 days ago  ·  link  ·  

You can look and see if particular portions of the population are being targeted and then knowing this investigate why it is happening and how to keep the people who are being targeted safe.

kleinbl00  ·  3164 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I imagine it's a reportage issue. I would be surprised if there's a single state that has reporting guidelines or requirements for trans violence of any kind. That makes any sort of data gathering an anecdotal process, which is difficult to do on a nationwide level.