Welcome to Transgender Awareness Week…which will culminate on Friday with Transgender Day of Remembrance. It's a time when we should be celebrating being transgender, but as is all too often the case, it will liikely not be a a time to rejoice.

Equality Michigan issued a press release last Friday noting that the murder victim whose body was discovered in a trash bin on November 8, although not yet identified, is believed to be a member of the transgender community.

We are saddened and angry to hear of the murder of another transgender woman of color who has yet to be identified. The undignified way in which her body was dumped speaks to the larger issue of anti-transgender hostility in our society, and the vast amount of work we, as supporters of the LGBT communities, have in front of us. We know that transgender women of color are the most disproportionately affected by violence and hate against the LGBT communities, and this latest incident is a tragic reminder of that reality. 

--Yvonne Siferd, Equality Michigan director of victim services

The 2012 National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) Hate Violence Report (pdf) indicated that transgender women are 2.14 times as likely to experience discrimination and 1.75 times as likely to experience threats and intimidation as survivors and victims who did not identify as transwomen.

Tragically, we know the more progress we achieve, the more violence we see perpetrated against our communities. Resistance to ending the unequal treatment of LGBT people too often manifests as transparent and gruesome acts of dehumanization. Equality Michigan will be there to help the transgender community with this latest attack, continue to work with police and local officials to bring an end to the severe and pervasive violence that transgender people face on a daily basis, and will not stop working to amend Michigan's Ethnic Intimidation Act to be LGBT inclusive and finally protective of all Michiganders.

--Emily Dievendorf, Equality Michigan's managing director

The body was discovered by a mother and son who were dumpster diving for bottles and and scraps. in an alley behind a bar.

There is related video here.