The murders of transgender people are rising this year as hate crime rises. Several people according to the Philadelphia Inquirer brutally beat a 34-year-old Black transgender woman name Kendall Stephens. Stephens was at her Philadelphia home with her two goddaughters when an immense crowd of young black women and men were outside of Stephen’s home when a fight broke out: liquor bottles were being thrown and the crowd was boisterous.
Stephens went outside to calm the crowd and threatened to call the police. That’s when a woman cursed and swung at Stephens in front of her own home. The mob soon made their way into her home, hitting her and calling her names such as ‘tranny’ and ‘man’. Instead, they busted through her home and beat her. The main aggressor a woman beat Stephens in her head with a wooden planter. She got several wounds including a broken nose, bruised ribs, swelling lip and unfortunately a head contusion.
In 2014 Philadelphia passed a law that if someone is attacked based off their gender identity or sexual orientation it’s considered a hate crime and charges can be filed. In Stephens case no charges have been filed.
