A black trans woman was found murdered in South Carolina, making her the 14th black trans woman killed in the U.S. so far this year.
Pebbles LaDime Doe, 24, was found dead inside a vehicle in a driveway in Allendale County on August 4. There was a delay in identifying her as trans, because she was misgendered and deadnamed.
This is the second death of a black trans woman in South Carolina in the past two weeks alone. South Carolina is one of only five states in the U.S. with no laws against hate crimes to protect trans citizens.
Chase Glenn, executive director of South Carolina LGBTQ group the Alliance for Full Acceptance, called the situation a “state of emergency.”
“We are at a crisis point that demands the nation’s attention,” Glenn said in a statement.
Authorities have not yet released any details about Doe’s death. However, Glenn says it’s part of a larger pattern.
“While the motives of [LaDime]’s murder aren’t yet known, we do know that often, the crimes against trans women of color are fueled by anti-LGBTQ prejudice, racism, and misogyny,” Glenn said. “Black trans women live at the intersection of multiple marginalized identities, are too often treated as disposable, and are experiencing epidemic levels of violence.”
This “epidemic” is a nationwide problem. Just a few days before Doe’s death, a 21-year-old black trans woman, Kiki Fantroy, was murdered in Miami. Other black trans women have been killed in other states, including Maryland, Pennsylvania and Texas.
Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren spoke out about the deaths of Doe and Fantroy, writing in a tweet:
“The murder of Black trans women is a crisis that we must call out—and address head-on.”
