The New Mexico chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots networks, released the following statement in response to the death of Nikki Turrietta, a transgender woman, who was shot and killed on New Year’s Eve in Alburquerque.
“Nikki was a free-spirited adventurer who should have entered the New Year with her loved ones,” said Anamaria Dahl, a volunteer leader with the New Mexico chapter of Moms Demand Action. “Her death is a solemn reminder of the violence transgender and gender non-conforming people face every day in our country and deepens our resolve to end hate-fueled gun violence.”
Nikki’s death marked at least the 53rd shooting of transgender and gender non-conforming people in 2021. 2021 was the deadliest year on record for trans and gender non-conforming people in the U.S., with at least 53 transgender or gender non-conforming people killed in United States and Puerto Rico and it’s likely there have been more deaths that have gone unreported or victims who have been misgendered. Researchers anticipate record-setting violence to continue into 2022.
2021 was the deadliest year on record for trans and gender nonconforming people in the U.S. Some trends from 2017 to 2021 that researchers fear will continue in 2022:
- Guns are the most frequently used weapon in the murder of trans people. Nearly three-fourths of trans people killed in America were killed with a gun.
- Black trans women account for the majority of homicide victims in the trans community. To put this into perspective, while Black people make up 16% of the trans population, 68% of known trans homicide victims between 2017 and 2021 were Black.
Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund has tracked homicides of transgender and gender non-comforming people in the U.S. since 2017. In addition to breaking down gun violence to the state- and county-level, the platform includes a database of known trans or gender nonconforming homicide victims in the United States.
