Last Friday night, 52-year-old Kevin Golec fatally stabbed his child – a 22-year-old who appears to have gone by both Brian Golec and Bri Golec – during a domestic dispute, writes Beth Sherouse on the HRC Blog. Local media identified the slain youth as male, but LGBT news outlets have offered conflicting reports – based on sources ranging from friends and family to local transgender activists – regarding whether Golic identified as transgender, was in the early stages of transition or was questioning their* gender identity but had decided they were not transgender
What we do know is that Golec was a drummer and an artist, that their gender presentation was at least occasionally feminine and that their life was extinguished far too soon.
Regardless of whether Golec was transgender, genderqueer, or otherwise gender nonconforming, they join a staggeringly long list of LGBTQ individuals who have been murdered in 2015, including transgender women Lamia Beard, Ty Underwood, Yazmin Vash Payne, Taja Gabrielle DeJesus and Penny Proud. The vast majority of these victims were transgender women of color; the oldest was 33; and most were killed by people they knew.
In addition to these murders, Lamar Edwards – whom LGBT friends have confirmed to The Advocate uses the name Lamar and identified as a gay man who sometimes dressed in drag – was fatally shot on January 9; police have not released information about whether Edwards was presenting as female at the time of death.
This violence has to stop, and HRC is committed to work with local and national organizations to address issues like poverty; lack of access to housing, healthcare and employment; and lack of LGBT-friendly safety net services like rape crisis centers and shelters. We must also work together as a community to change hearts and minds by fighting transphobia.
For more information on violence against the transgender community and HRC’s calls-to-action, visit hrc.org/trans-violence.
