As Black Lives Matter trends in the wake of George Floyd’s tragic murder, another violent incident in the same city where George lost his life has people reflecting on how inclusive that statement should be. Iyanna Dior, a black trans woman, was brutally beaten by a mob Monday night in Minneapolis. Footage of the incident has gone viral on social media, prompting people to call for justice and bring awareness to the high rates of violence against black transgender women.
Dior, who is 21, was attacked by a group of what appears to be mostly men, at a gas station in Minneapolis after a reported fender bender, according to Rolling Stone. In a post on her Facebook, Dior told supporters that she needed time “to process everything that’s going on” and thanked people for reaching out to see if she was ok.
Celebrities caught wind of Iyanna Dior’s story and shared their support for her and the black trans community, launching it into the national spotlight. Some of the hashtags related to the movement include the phrasing, “All black lives matter” and “Black trans lives matter.”
SWIPE to see what people had to say in regard to Iyanna Dior.
According to the Human Rights Coalition, at least 26 transgender or gender non-conforming people were violently killed in 2019 alone. The vast majority of the victims were black transgender women.
“This violence has got to stop. All of our hearts should hurt watching the videos of this young trans woman being hit by a group of people. Black lives matter and that includes trans, non-binary, queer, cis and straight Black lives,” Tori Cooper, director of community engagement for HRC’s Transgender Justice Initiative, tells Rolling Stone. “The time is now for us to make changes through an intersectional lens that includes all Black lives.”
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