Trans Panic Defense
Apr. 18th, 2009 10:35 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
lisaquestions.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
transSince Angie Zapata's in the news, I thought I'd post a few links.
The first is a comment by Holly at Feministe:
Cara’s last post raises something extremely important that we should all be aware of:
“Deception” is the commonly told and commonly believed story in cases like this, but further investigation and examination of the facts has OFTEN suggested it’s a smokescreen.
Lisa links to a couple examples, and there are more. Seriously, don’t let anyone sell you the usual line that “oh, she tricked him and then he freaked out and killed her.” For one thing, even if that was the case, the appropriate reaction is not to kill someone. But more importantly, it’s often totally fabricated. But everyone just believes it because it’s so “plausible.” It’s the entire audience of listeners to these stories that need to wise up. Tell your friends. Here are some important points:
1) in quite a few of these cases, witnesses, friends, and continued investigation have attested that the murderers had an ongoing relationship with the victim, to the extent that it was quite unlikely they didn’t know about their trans status;
2) trans women, even young trans women, are not total fucking idiots. Especially the ones who have experience, who lived to see adulthood and have had to survive on the streets. Trans women know the risks associated with sex partners who aren’t aware of our status. Trans women are, by and large, experts at judging and negotiating this kind of situation. Part of the reason many community advocates think the ongoing wave of “trans panic” crimes involve bogus stories is that most trans women, sex workers included, make sure that potential sex partners are not confused as hell about what’s going on. Unfortunately, that doesn’t eliminate the unpredictable violent psychopaths of the world.
3) The victims of these murders are DEAD and cannot tell their side of the story. Seriously — Andrade killed her, he confessed it. He knows what kind of story is likely to elicit the most sympathy from other straight guys, and he’s telling it. He even included details about “she wouldn’t let me touch her, but she gave me a blow job.” This whole scenario is a classic myth — which doesn’t mean it never happens, but when the murderer is caught red-handed and then proceeds to give the most “sympathetic sob story,” why the hell does everyone believe him? Because most people find it impossible to identify with the victim, and far too easy to identify with the killer of a “thing.”This needs to change, but the dead cannot speak for themselves, cannot persuade people to empathize and listen. It’s up to the rest of us.
As for the whole “hate crime” crap, it plays into people’s ridiculous idea of what motivates other types of hate crimes as well. They’re thinking of cold-blooded strategizing Klansmen, not killers who freak out because they have emotional and mental problems related to race, or gender, or sexuality. But of course a lot of feelings of irrational hatred — for any group of people — are tied up with the killer’s own twisted, distorted feelings about all of that and how they see themselves fitting into the world. What’s truly disgusting is that people are just buying Andrade’s classic story, regardless of whether it’s true or not, and many patterns from similar cases in the past suggest it’s likely not true.
The second is an analysis of the "Trans Panic Defense" by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss, and is too long to post here. However, I strongly suggest reading it.
The third is a recent post by Helen G at Bird of Paradox linking to a story at the Greeley Tribune with this information:
Deputy District Attorney Brandi Lynn Nieto told the jury that Andrade knew for 36 hours Angie was biologically male. He even attended a court hearing for a traffic ticket where clerks called for the case against “Justin Zapata.”
It's hard to talk about how cis people justify killing trans women without acknowledging information like the above. Especially point 3 in Holly's comment above: The victims are dead and cannot tell their side of the story.
The first is a comment by Holly at Feministe:
Cara’s last post raises something extremely important that we should all be aware of:
“Deception” is the commonly told and commonly believed story in cases like this, but further investigation and examination of the facts has OFTEN suggested it’s a smokescreen.
Lisa links to a couple examples, and there are more. Seriously, don’t let anyone sell you the usual line that “oh, she tricked him and then he freaked out and killed her.” For one thing, even if that was the case, the appropriate reaction is not to kill someone. But more importantly, it’s often totally fabricated. But everyone just believes it because it’s so “plausible.” It’s the entire audience of listeners to these stories that need to wise up. Tell your friends. Here are some important points:
1) in quite a few of these cases, witnesses, friends, and continued investigation have attested that the murderers had an ongoing relationship with the victim, to the extent that it was quite unlikely they didn’t know about their trans status;
2) trans women, even young trans women, are not total fucking idiots. Especially the ones who have experience, who lived to see adulthood and have had to survive on the streets. Trans women know the risks associated with sex partners who aren’t aware of our status. Trans women are, by and large, experts at judging and negotiating this kind of situation. Part of the reason many community advocates think the ongoing wave of “trans panic” crimes involve bogus stories is that most trans women, sex workers included, make sure that potential sex partners are not confused as hell about what’s going on. Unfortunately, that doesn’t eliminate the unpredictable violent psychopaths of the world.
3) The victims of these murders are DEAD and cannot tell their side of the story. Seriously — Andrade killed her, he confessed it. He knows what kind of story is likely to elicit the most sympathy from other straight guys, and he’s telling it. He even included details about “she wouldn’t let me touch her, but she gave me a blow job.” This whole scenario is a classic myth — which doesn’t mean it never happens, but when the murderer is caught red-handed and then proceeds to give the most “sympathetic sob story,” why the hell does everyone believe him? Because most people find it impossible to identify with the victim, and far too easy to identify with the killer of a “thing.”This needs to change, but the dead cannot speak for themselves, cannot persuade people to empathize and listen. It’s up to the rest of us.
As for the whole “hate crime” crap, it plays into people’s ridiculous idea of what motivates other types of hate crimes as well. They’re thinking of cold-blooded strategizing Klansmen, not killers who freak out because they have emotional and mental problems related to race, or gender, or sexuality. But of course a lot of feelings of irrational hatred — for any group of people — are tied up with the killer’s own twisted, distorted feelings about all of that and how they see themselves fitting into the world. What’s truly disgusting is that people are just buying Andrade’s classic story, regardless of whether it’s true or not, and many patterns from similar cases in the past suggest it’s likely not true.
The second is an analysis of the "Trans Panic Defense" by Dr. Jillian T. Weiss, and is too long to post here. However, I strongly suggest reading it.
The third is a recent post by Helen G at Bird of Paradox linking to a story at the Greeley Tribune with this information:
Deputy District Attorney Brandi Lynn Nieto told the jury that Andrade knew for 36 hours Angie was biologically male. He even attended a court hearing for a traffic ticket where clerks called for the case against “Justin Zapata.”
It's hard to talk about how cis people justify killing trans women without acknowledging information like the above. Especially point 3 in Holly's comment above: The victims are dead and cannot tell their side of the story.