Transgender Woman Dies in a Possible Hate CrimeAlan Feuer, NY Times, August 23rd
A transgender woman attacked last weekend in Harlem has died in a case the police said they were now investigating as a hate crime after learning that the man accused of hitting her may have used antigay epithets.
Ms. Nettles was walking with a group of transgender friends on Frederick Douglass Boulevard between 147th and 148th Streets when they encountered several men across the street.
When the men concluded Ms. Nettles and her friends were transgender, a scuffle broke out, the police said, with punches thrown and homophobic slurs shouted.
A spokeswoman for the New York City medical examiner's office, Ellen Borakove, said on Friday that the death had been ruled a homicide and the cause was "blunt force trauma."
"It made us all a little shaken," she said. "The community here is strong, but being transgendered can be dangerous. There's still intolerance. There's still a stigma around it."
State Senator Daniel L. Squadron, the Senate sponsor of a bill called the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act, or Genda, said in a statement on Friday: "Islan was 21 years old — 21 years old. And her life and future were stolen from her. Let's be clear: intolerance, discrimination and hate have no place in New York or anywhere. Each outrage is another call: It's time for New York to send that message loudly and clearly by finally passing Genda."
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Rest in Peace Islan
Edited to include link
