As the alarming number of murders of transgender people, particularly women of color, mounts, Southern lawmakers have continued to push measures that discriminate against the transgender community. But in North Carolina, a federal judge recently approved a settlement that reverses controversial restrictions on transgender rights.
The man who gunned down his three Muslim neighbors in Chapel Hill in 2015 has pleaded guilty to their murders, but he couldn't be charged under North Carolina's hate crime law because it doesn't cover felonies. That's just one of many weaknesses in those state laws, which advocates are trying to strengthen.
Thomas Farr's nomination to serve as a federal judge in eastern North Carolina has met opposition because of his involvement in efforts to suppress the African-American vote. Less well-known are his efforts to quash workers' organizing rights.
Transgender women — and especially trans women of color — face disproportionate violence, with at least seven murders in the U.S. so far this year. Most of these occurred in the South, where state hate crime laws don't cover gender identity, and where lawmakers are stirring up transphobia with so-called "bathroom bills."
On transgender rights, immigrant protections, minimum wage increases and more, Southern cities are facing escalating efforts by state and federal officials to block local progress.
