Louisiana Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action Respond to Shooting of Keeva Scatter, a 34-year old Black Transgender Woman, in Baton Rouge
2.15.2022
The Louisiana 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 Keeva Scatter, a transgender Black woman, who was shot and killed in Baton Rouge last year. Though Keeva was murdered in October of 2021, initial coverage misgendered and deadnamed her, and the shooting was not accurately reported until recently.
“Our hearts break for Keeva’s loved ones and the entire trans community today,” said Angelle Bradford, a volunteer with the Louisiana chapter of Moms Demand Action. “As we honor Keeva’s life, her death must serve as a somber reminder of the disproportionate effect that America’s gun violence crisis has on Black transgender and gender non-conforming people every day. Thoughts and prayers aren’t enough — lawmakers need to do more to protect our trans neighbors from these senseless acts of violence.”
2021 was the deadliest year on record for trans and gender non-conforming people in the U.S.; Keeva’s death marked at least the 54th shooting of a transgender or gender non-conforming person in 2021 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. Researchers anticipate this record-setting violence to continue into 2022.
2021 was the deadliest year on record for trans and gender nonconforming people in the U.S. Some trends from 2017 to 2021 that researchers fear will continue in 2022:
- There was an 86% increase in incidents of tracked transgender homicides from 2017 to 2021 (from 29 incidents in 2017 to 54 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 (74%) 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.