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Pennsylvania Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action Respond to Shooting of Miia Love Parker, a 25-year-old Black Transgender Woman, in Chester

April 14, 2022

The Pennsylvania 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 Miia Love Parker, a transgender Black woman, who was shot and killed in Chester, Pennsylvania. Though Miia was murdered nearly two weeks ago, initial police reports and media coverage misgendered and deadnamed her.

“Miia’s life was abruptly stolen from her by a senseless act of gun violence and our thoughts are with her loved ones at this time.” Erin Buchner, a volunteer with the Pennsylvania chapter of Moms Demand Action. “But thoughts and prayers are not enough to bring justice for Miia; her death should serve as somber reminder of the effect gun violence has on transgender and gender non-conforming people in America, epsecially the disproportionate impact on Black transgender women.”

Miia’s death is at least the 6th fatal shooting of a transgender or gender non-conforming person in 2022 in the United States and Puerto Rico. It’s likely there have been more deaths that have gone unreported or victims who have been misgendered

2021 was the deadliest year on record for trans and gender nonconforming people in the U.S with Black transgender women dispropotionately impacted by shootings of transgender people. Some trends from 2017 to 2021 that researchers fear are continuing in 2022:

  • There was an 93% increase in incidents of tracked transgender homicides from 2017 to 2021 (from 29 incidents in 2017 to 56 incidents in 2021). 
  • 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, 64% of known trans homicide victims between 2017 and 2021 were Black trans women. The majority of homicides (73%) involving a gun were of Black trans women.

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. 

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