Standing Watch

I’ve tried my best to be as unbiased as possible in which stories I cover.  I try to stick  with opinions about what I see, and to tell stories largely ignored by the majority of media.  Having been born intersex, and now considered transgender (thanks to doctors giving my parents, not me, a choice, and they in turn choosing poorly), I tend to shy away from making this site one that focuses on transgender issues specifically, and LGBT issues in general.  But it is inevitable that those stories will be the ones that are not only appropriate to the main purpose of this site (to address issues of hate), but will also be the ones least covered (if at all) by the media.

I’ve done this before on other sites, under the byline “And In Other News,” in an attempt to educate others to the horrors that go on in certain lives, and the tragic ends to lives that make no sense.  I thought about retaining the byline, but it wasn’t quite descriptive enough.  “The Butcher’s Bill” seems far more appropriate, to describe the bloody price paid by those who seek to present themselves as they actually are, rather than to live someone else’s lies just so those others can feel better about themselves.

This will not be a regular column, per se, if for no other reason than simply covering such stories takes a serious emotional toll on me.  But, the stories need to be told, so this column will appear periodically.  It will be by no means complete, but I will try my best.

And we begin…

Lakeland, FL – Jerry Lee Seger, 40, was arrested by Polk County Sheriff’s Deputies on Saturday, April 24, 2010, and charged with 1st Degree Murder for the death of Courtney Bright, 24.  Bright’s body was found in an abandoned foreclosed home on April 22, 2010.  She had been strangled to death sometime in the previous 24-48 hours.  Seger’s daughter, Ashley Dunn, and Bright had been lovers for three years, which Seger had deeply resented.  Media witnesses claim Seger hated Bright deeply for what Seger believed was the leading of his daughter down the wrong path.

SEGMENT REMOVED AT THE REQUEST OF THE VICTIM’S FAMILY, AND BECAUSE PUBLIC STATEMENTS BY THE VICTIM’S FAMILY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT MAKE CLEAR THE STORY NO LONGER MEETS THE CRITERIA OF A BIAS CRIME.

San Francisco, CA – A state prisoner convicted last year for sexually assaulting a transgender woman in 2007 was arraigned last month on additional charges relating to the rape and murder of another transgender woman, and the sexual assault of a third.  Charges have yet to be filed in relation to a fourth victim of sexual assault.  Donzell Francis, 41, apparently preferred to target transgender women who worked as prostitutes, because they are less likely to be taken seriously if they try to file charges, and generally aren’t missed outside the transgender population if they suddenly disappear.  Many transgender women are forced into prostitution to survive, do to an average 90% unemployment rate, and a lack of enforcement of anti-discrimination laws, if they exist to begin with.

Queens, NY – Rasheen Everett, 29, was arrested last month and charged with 2nd Degree Murder in the death of Amanda Gonzalez-Andujar on March 27, 2010.  Despite neighbors having heard screaming and scuffling noises in Gonzales-Andujar’s apartment that evening, her death was not reported for three days.  She was found face down, her body having been doused in bleach to destroy any genetic evidence.  Everett faces a maximum 25 years in prison if convicted.

Corozal, PR – Ashley Santiago Ocasio, 31, was murdered last month, in a way that makes clear she was murdered because she was a transgender woman.  Ocasio was found naked, beaten, and shot in the head, in a pool of her own blood, which was also splattered about the area she was found.  LGBT persons in the recent past have been murdered in very brutal ways, including dismemberment and decapitation.  Authorities in Puerto Rico have thus far been reluctant to invoke a 2002 hate crimes statute that would put persons convicted of such brutal murders in prison for life, seeking some other motive than hate bias.  In Ocasio’s case, authorities have been looking into robbery as the motive, even though nothing was stolen according to reports.  Ocasio was a popular beauty salon owner and well liked in the neighborhood, and accepted by her family, a very rare combination for transgender persons.

That’s all I can handle for now.  I’m going to go lay down and hug my pillow, wishing that it was my partner, and weep over the senselessness of such hatred.

This article was edited on June 15, 2010, to meet the requests of family members and because it no longer meets the criteria of a bias crime against transgender persons per public statements by the victim’s family members and law enforcement investigating the case.

The family has my sincerest apologies for statements used from trusted sources, which will no longer be trusted.