New calls to confront transphobia after murders of two black transgender women

Advocates are renewing their call to end violence against transgender people after two black trans women were murdered this week — Riah Milton in Liberty Township, Ohio, and Dominique "Rem'mie" Fells in Philadelphia.

Advocates say transgender people are at heightened risk for fatal violence, especially transgender women of color. Fells and Milton are believed to be the 13th and 14th transgender or gender non-conforming murder victims in the U.S. this year, according to the Human Rights Campaign. The advocacy group said it's possible other cases have gone unreported.

The FBI reported a significant increase in hate crimes motivated by gender identity bias between 2017 and 2018, the most recent year for which federal hate crime data is available.

"As our country faces a long-overdue reckoning with the violence and indignities that black people have dealt with for centuries, we must affirm that Black Trans Lives Matter," Human Rights Campaign President Alphonso David said in a statement.

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/black-trans-lives-matter-new-calls-after-two-murders-dominique-fells-riah-milton