Destiny Howard, a 23-year-old Black trans woman, was found dead in a parking lot in Macon, Georgia, the morning of December 9. She had been fatally shot and was pronounced dead by authorities at the scene. Initial reports of her death misgendered and deadnamed her, with local news outlet 41 WMGT using “he” pronouns.
According to Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents, Howard was born in Macon in 1999 into a family with five brothers and five sisters. She graduated from Westside High School in 2019 and loved fashion.
Tori Cooper, the Human Rights Campaign Director of Community Engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative, said that it was “heartbreaking to learn of yet another young, Black trans woman lost to whose life was taken by gun violence.”
“Destiny’s life mattered, and it was taken far too soon,” Cooper said in a statement. “Initial reports of Destiny’s death misgendered her, denying her the dignity to be seen as she truly was. Our society must recognize that trans women are women and that their lives have worth, and work to end the violence that takes far too many of our lives.”
Although the rate of anti-trans murders has been skyrocketing in recent years, we know that, for reasons including deadnaming or misgendering, those staggering numbers are still usually undercounts. That was the case for 2022, with Howard’s murder adding one more to the count. According to Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents, Howard’s death marks 41 violent deaths of trans Americans in 2022; over half of those victims — 22 — were Black trans women. This year, the violent deaths of three trans Americans have already been reported: Jasmine “Star” Mack, KC Johnson, and Tortuguita.
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