Texas, however, remains the state with the highest amount of pro-trans killings in the nation. As of this writing, Diamond is the 35th trans or sex-wide survivor of deadly assault identified in Texas since HRC began tracking deadly violence in 2013, with Texas accounting for more than 1 in 10 of all victims HRC has identified to date. All but one of these 35 victims were transgender women, and more than half (57.1%, n=20) were Black transgender women, specifically.
The effect of guns and firearms also cannot be ignored: More than 25,000 hate crimes in the U.S. involve a rifle each month, which equates to about 70 instances a morning, according to a 2023 statement from Everytown for Gun Safety in partnership with HRC and The Equality Federation Support Fund, “Remembering and Honoring Pulse: Anti-LGBTQ Bias and Guns Are Taking Lives of Countless LGBTQ People.” To date, 24 trans and gender-expansive victims of fatal violence in Texas were killed with a gun, accounting for two-thirds (68.6%) of all deaths in the state. However, gun violence not only impacts trans and gender-expansive Texans, but Texans as a whole—and Black and Brown Texans in particular. As reported by Everytown for Gun Safety, nearly 4,000 people die each year by gun violence in the state, with gun deaths increasing by over 46% over the last decade. Black Texans experienced the highest rate of firearm deaths of any racial/ethnic group, with Black Texans six times more likely than white Texans to die by gun homicide.
The report also notes a marked increase in anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes, especially against transgender people. In 2022, the most recent year for which data is available, the FBI recorded a record-high number of hate crimes related to gender identity, including a 33% jump in hate crimes on the basis of gender identity from the year before.
In an injustice compounding this tragedy, Diamond was misgendered in some media and police reports. Anti-transgender stigma is exacerbated by callous or disrespectful treatment by some in the media, law enforcement, and elected offices. According to HRC research, it is estimated that approximately two-thirds of all known victims were misgendered by the media and/or by law enforcement. In the pursuit of greater accuracy and respect, HRC offers guidelines for journalists and others who report on transgender people. HRC, Media Matters, and the Trans Journalists Association have also partnered on an FAQ for reporters writing about anti-trans violence.
At the state level, transgender and gender-expansive people in Texas are not explicitly protected from discrimination in employment, housing, education, and public spaces. Texas does not include sexual orientation or gender identity as a protected characteristic in its hate crimes law. Though we have recently seen some political gains that support and affirm transgender people, we have also faced unprecedented anti-LGBTQ+ attacks in states across the country. In June 2023, the Human Rights Campaign declared a National State of Emergency for LGBTQ+ Americans, as a result of the more than 550 anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced into state houses that year, over 80 of which were signed into law—more than in any other year. As of this writing, almost more than 400 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced into state houses since the beginning of 2024.
We must demand better from our elected officials and reject harmful anti-transgender legislation at the local, state, and federal levels, while also considering every possible way to make ending this violence a reality. It is clear that fatal violence disproportionately affects transgender women of color, especially Black transgender women. The intersections of racism, transphobia, sexism, biphobia, and homophobia conspire to deprive them of necessities to live and thrive, so we must all work together to cultivate acceptance, reject hate, and end stigma for everyone in the trans and gender-expansive community.
While Diamond’s killer has not been identified, police have a description of the suspect, describing them as a male passenger who had been driving a 2017 white Chevrolet Malibu LT, who is “5 feet 5 inches tall, with a thin build, and wearing a gray hooded jacket.” Anyone with information on the identity of the suspect is urged to contact the HPD Homicide Division at (713) 308-3600 or speak anonymously with Crime Stoppers at (713) 222-TIPS.
