Monday, June 15, 2020

Thousands show up for black trans people in nationwide protests

 By Lauren Holt, CNN Updated 1711 GMT (0111 HKT) June 15, 2020


Thousands rallied outside Brooklyn Museum in New York to support trans rights on Sunday, June 14, 2020.

New York (CNN) Black transgender activist Raquel Willis stood on the deck of the Brooklyn Museum on Sunday and led thousands of protesters in a chant.

"I believe in my power," she said, as people in the crowd echoed the words back. "I believe in your power. I believe in our power. I believe in black trans power.

" The Black Trans Lives Matter rally in New York, one of many nationwide, came after two black trans women -- Dominique "Rem'Mie" Fells, 27, of Philadelphia, and Riah Milton, 25, of Cincinnati, Ohio -- were murdered last week.

There have been 14 reported murders of trans and gender non-conforming people -- including Fells and Milton -- since the start of 2020, according to the Human Rights Campaign. But the number of deaths of trans people are likely undercounted, the Human Rights Campaign said in its report on anti-transgender violence in the US in 2019.

Protesters crowd Hollywood Boulevard during the All Black Lives Matter solidarity march, on June 14, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. Sunday's protest also took place amid global demonstrations in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, which has surged in the wake of George Floyd's death.

It also followed the Trump administration's announcement that it is eliminating an Obama-era regulation prohibiting discrimination in health care against patients who are transgender.


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