How Guns Fuel Violence Against Transgender People in America

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Key Findings

Our analysis of the 228 known homicides³Everytown Research, Transgender Homicide Tracker, accessed October 1, 2024. This dataset comes from Everytown’s methodical tracking and analysis of all homicides of transgender victims in the United States and Puerto Rico, using news stories, and police and court documents. In our tracking and reporting, homicides include deaths that result from willful neglect, killings by law enforcement, and homicides ruled justifiable self-defense, in addition to intentional killings, such as murder and manslaughter. We do not include unintentional deaths, such as deaths resulting from the misfire of a gun or a traffic collision ruled accidental. The analysis in this report is based on 228 known homicides that occurred between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2022. of transgender people in the United States and Puerto Rico from January 2017 through December 2022 revealed the following:

• A gun was used in more than seven in 10 transgender homicides.⁴Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022. Of all 228 trans homicides, 165 (72 percent) involved a firearm.
• Sixty-five percent of transgender victims of gun homicide were Black trans women.⁵Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022. Of 165 trans gun homicide victims, 108 victims (65 percent) were Black women. Yet among the general US population, only 7 percent of gun homicide victims are Black women.⁶Everytown Research analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, WONDER, Underlying Cause of Death, 2017–2022. Of 106,310 gun homicide (including shootings by police) victims, 7,076 (7 percent) were Black females.
• Nearly six in 10 trans victims of homicide were under the age of 30.⁷Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022. Of all 228 homicide victims, 131 victims (57 percent) were 29 years old or younger at the time of the incident.
• More than one in three identified gun homicide perpetrators⁸For purposes of this report, references to “perpetrators” and “known perpetrators,” in either case, include individuals whom media, law enforcement records, court records, or other reliable sources have alleged to be a perpetrator of the homicide, regardless of whether the individual was prosecuted for or convicted of a homicide offense. This includes law enforcement officers who shot and killed victims in incidents in which the use of force was found to be justified, correctional officers who failed to provide or withheld medical treatment in medical emergencies, and individuals who claim or were found to have killed someone in self-defense. were legally prohibited from possessing a firearm due to prior felony convictions or other prohibiting factors.⁹Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022. Of 113 identified gun perpetrators, 41 perpetrators (36 percent) were “confirmed prohibited” or “likely prohibited” from having a firearm. “Confirmed prohibited” means that there is proof that the individual had a history or other status that would prohibit firearm possession, such as a background check showing a prior conviction of a felony offense. “Likely prohibited” means that there is a compelling reason to believe that the individual was prohibited from firearm possession, such as criminal charges for being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm, or a reliable media source reporting that the individual was prohibited or charged as being a prohibited possessor, but records obtained by Everytown were inconclusive. In incidents where there were more than one perpetrator, if one of the perpetrators who participated in the killing (shot the victim or otherwise harmed the victim in a way that led to or contributed to their death [i.e., not including a getaway driver]) was prohibited, the incident was counted as involving a prohibited perpetrator.
• One-third of transgender victims of homicide experienced housing insecurity or homelessness. The majority of those victims were killed with a gun.¹⁰Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022. Of 57 victims whose housing status was known, 19 victims (33 percent) were homeless or housing insecure. Of those who were known to be homeless or housing insecure, 15 victims (79 percent) were killed with a gun. Housing insecurity is defined as instances when the victim was staying somewhere, such as with a friend or relative, temporarily. Homelessness is defined as instances when the victim was living in shelters, on the street or otherwise outside, or experiencing chronic housing insecurity.
• Trans people killed with a gun were nearly twice as likely to be killed by a family member or intimate partner than were gun homicide victims generally.¹¹Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022, and CDC, National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS), 2014–2020. Of 165 trans gun homicides, 31 perpetrators (19 percent) were family members or intimate partners. Of 58,978 gun homicides, 6,879 (12 percent) were family members or intimate partners.
• A disproportionate number of gun homicides of trans people took place in the South, and Florida and Texas together were home to nearly one out of every five trans gun homicides.¹²Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, WONDER, Underlying Cause of Death, 2017–2022. Of 165 gun homicide victims, 94 victims (57 percent) were killed in the South, including 30 (18 percent) gun homicide victims who were killed in the states of Florida or Texas. Of all 106,310 gun homicide (including shootings by police) victims, 53,293 (50 percent) were killed in the South, including 16,146 (15 percent) gun homicide victims who were from Florida or Texas. States were assigned to a region as categorized by the Census Region designation in CDC WONDER.

Introduction

The US has a gun homicide rate 26 times higher than other high-income countries,¹³Everytown analysis of the most recent years of gun homicides by country (2013 to 2019), GunPolicy.org (accessed January 7, 2022). and within the US, homicides account for more than four in 10 gun deaths.¹⁴Everytown Research analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, WONDER, Underlying Cause of Death, 2017–2022. Homicide includes shootings by police. Of all 261,476 people who died by guns, 106,310 (41 percent) died by gun homicide. Past research has demonstrated that transgender people are far from immune from this violence, and in fact, face higher rates of violence than their cis-gender peers.¹⁵Jennifer L. Truman and Rachel E. Morgan, “Violent Victimization by Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, 2017–2020,” Bureau of Justice Statistics, June 2022, https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/vvsogi1720.pdf.  However, a number of factors make it challenging to understand the full scope of violence against trans people. Research has found that law enforcement¹⁶Lucas Waldron and Ken Schwencke, “Deadnamed: How Police Still Identify Transgender Homicide Victims by Their Birth Names,” ProPublica, June 30, 2023, https://www.propublica.org/article/deadnamed-transgender-black-women-murders-jacksonville-police-investigation; Sabra L. Katz-Wise, “Misgendering: What It Is and Why It Matters,” Harvard Health Blog, July 23, 2021, https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/misgendering-what-it-is-and-why-it-matters-202107232553. and the media¹⁷Susana Avalos, “A Comparative Content Analysis of the News Media Framing of Trans Homicide between Trans Men and Trans Women in the U.S. from 2016 to 2022,” Journal of Interpersonal Violence 39, no. 11-12 (2024): 2602–28, https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605231220014. often identify trans people by names they no longer use—referred to as deadnaming¹⁸“A deadname is a name given to a trans person, typically at birth, that they no longer use.” Trans Journalists Association Style Guide, June 17, 2024, https://styleguide.transjournalists.org/#deadnames. —and limited collection of sexual orientation and gender-identity data¹⁹UCLA, Williams Institute, “Data Collection Methods for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity,” March 2016. https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/data-collection-sogi/. only further complicate the research landscape. It also makes this research all the more necessary.

To better understand the deadly toll of gun violence on trans people, Everytown Research began tracking all homicides of transgender victims in 2017. The data used in this project comes from our tracking and analysis of news articles and police and court documents for incidents from 2017 through 2022.²⁰News reports filtered by a Google Search Alert (using variations of the terms “transgender” and “murder,” “homicide,” and “body found”) were reviewed and confirmed for inclusion when they involved a transgender or GE person who was killed by another individual, or died from willful neglect, and not unintentional instances. Special attention was paid to reputable sources, such as the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and the blog PGHLesbian. In some cases, additional records were obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to police and sheriffs departments, courts, state investigative agencies, and medical examiners in order to confirm details of the case, or of the victims or perpetrators. Records for some incidents that took place between 2017 and 2021 were provided to Everytown by Business Insider from their thorough reporting on trans homicides during those years. Esther Kaplan, Sophie Kleeman and John Cook, “Deaths in the Family,” Business Insider, November 17, 2022, https://www.businessinsider.com/transgender-violence-deaths-database-murder-cases-2017-2021. Our analysis of over 200 homicides reveals that trans folks experience a unique set of risk factors, often fueled by discrimination and hate, that increase their exposure to violence. As lawmakers in some parts of the country weaken gun safety laws while also pushing legislation targeting trans people,²¹Orion Rummler, “More States Propose Bills to Exclude Trans, Nonbinary People from Public Life,” The 19th, January 10, 2024, https://19thnews.org/2024/01/transgender-state-bills-legal-recognition/. it is vital to explore the outsized role guns play in the homicides of transgender people to help protect trans lives and end gun violence in the US.

Behind the Numbers

Guns play a defining role in homicides of transgender people.

There were an average of 38 homicides of transgender people in the United States and Puerto Rico each year from 2017 to 2022. As with homicides in the US generally during the pandemic, 2021 was a particularly deadly year for trans people, with at least 59 trans people killed.

The trans people killed during this period lived throughout the US, in 35 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico, and died under a variety of circumstances. But most shared one thing in common: they were killed with a gun. Even as numbers have fluctuated over time, more than seven in 10 homicides of trans people have consistently involved a gun²²Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022. Of 228 trans homicide victims, 165 victims (72 percent) were killed with a firearm. —similar to the proportion of homicides that involve a gun among the overall US population.²³Everytown Research analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, WONDER, Underlying Cause of Death, 2017–2022. Of 137,141 homicide (including homicides by police) victims, 106,310 victims (78 percent) died by firearm.

Homicides of trans people rose rapidly but are showing signs of decline.

Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022.

Most trans people were killed with guns.

Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022.

Who were the victims?

Trans people across the country, of all ages, races, ethnicities, and genders have been impacted by this violence. But certain groups, like women and Black people, have been disproportionately affected. While homicide victims in the United States are nearly always men—more than eight in 10—the opposite is true for trans victims of homicide. More than eight in 10 trans homicide victims in this study were women.²⁴Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, WONDER, Underlying Cause of Death, 2017–2022. Of 228 trans homicide victims, 194 victims (85 percent) were women. Of all 137,141 homicide (including homicides by police) victims, 110,612 (81 percent) were men. Further, two-thirds of trans victims of homicide were Black.²⁵This is above the half of nationwide homicide victims who are Black. Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, WONDER, Underlying Cause of Death, 2017–2022. Of 228 trans homicide victims, 150 victims (66 percent) were Black. Of all 137,141 homicide (including homicides by police) victims, 71,377 (52 percent) were Black. 

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Black trans women made up nearly two-thirds of transgender victims of gun homicide.

Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022. Of 165 trans gun homicide victims, 108 victims (65 percent) were Black women.

When a gun is involved, the brunt of this violence falls on Black trans women. Nearly two-thirds of all trans victims of homicide who were shot were Black trans women—10 times the proportion of gun homicide victims who were Black women in the United States overall.²⁶Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, WONDER, Underlying Cause of Death, 2017–2022. Of 165 trans gun homicide victims, 108 victims (65 percent) were Black women. Of 106,310 gun homicide (including shootings by police) victims, 7,165 (7 percent) were Black or Black-Hispanic females. And while Latinas make up just 2 percent of gun homicide victims overall, trans Latinas accounted for 10 percent of trans victims of gun homicide.²⁷Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, WONDER, Underlying Cause of Death, 2017–2022. Of 165 trans gun homicide victims, 17 victims (10 percent) were Latinas. Of 106,310 gun homicide (including shootings by police) victims, 2,382 (2 percent) were Latinx females. It is well documented that BIPOC people generally experience a disproportionate burden from gun homicide, but this research makes clear that Black and brown trans people, and Black trans women in particular, are at even greater risk.

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Black and Latina women make up less than one in 10 gun homicide victims. But three in four trans victims of gun homicide were Black and Latina trans women.

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Our study also revealed a strong impact on young people: Fifty-eight percent of trans gun homicide victims were under the age of 30,²⁹Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022. Of all 165 trans gun homicide victims, 95 victims (58 percent) were 29 years old or younger at the time of the incident. while 48 percent of gun homicide victims overall are that young.³⁰Everytown Research analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, WONDER, Underlying Cause of Death, 2017–2022. Ages: 0–29. Of 106,310 gun homicide (including shootings by police) victims, 51,499 (48 percent) were 29 years old or younger at the time of their death. Research shows that trans high schoolers are more likely than cisgender classmates to experience peer victimization,³¹Alyssa L. Norris and Lindsay M. Orchowski, “Peer Victimization of Sexual Minority and Transgender Youth: A Cross-sectional Study of High School Students,” Psychology of Violence 10, no. 2 (2020): 201–11, https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000260. bullying, and threats or injuries with a weapon while at school.³²Michelle M. Johns et al, “Transgender Identity and Experiences of Violence Victimization, Substance Use, Suicide Risk, and Sexual Risk Behaviors among High School Students—19 States and Large Urban School Districts, 2017,” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 68, no. 3 (January 25, 2019): 67–71, https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6803a3. Trans youth are also more likely to be exposed to sexual and physical abuse from dating partners and family members compared to their cisgender peers.³³Johns et al., “Transgender Identity and Experiences of Violence Victimization;” Brian C. Thoma et al., “Disparities in Childhood Abuse between Transgender and Cisgender Adolescents,” Pediatrics 148, no. 2 (August 2021): e2020016907, https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2020-016907. This underscores the risks trans youth face on an almost daily basis.

Young trans people suffered most from gun homicide.

Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022.

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Many perpetrators should never have had access to guns in the first place.

More than one-third of known perpetrators who used a gun were legally prohibited from possessing a firearm,³⁵Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022. Of 113 known trans gun homicide perpetrators, 41 perpetrators (36 percent) were confirmed prohibited or likely prohibited from possessing a firearm. but still managed to get their hands on one. To put this in context, that is an even higher proportion than among mass shooters in the United States, where roughly one in four were prohibited from possessing a firearm.³⁶Everytown Research, “Mass Shootings in the United States,” March 2023, https://everytownresearch.org/mass-shooting-report/. Of 175 mass shooting incidents in which four or more people were killed, in 47 (27 percent) of incidents, at least one shooter was legally prohibited from possessing firearms.

When the perpetrator was an intimate partner of the victim, the likelihood that the shooter was prohibited was even higher—four in 10.³⁷Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022. Of 25 trans gun homicides perpetrated by an intimate partner, 10 (40 percent) were prohibited or likely prohibited from purchasing or possessing a firearm. Many of the shooters had histories of breaking the law. The most frequent reason why a perpetrator in our study could not legally have a gun was a prior felony conviction, while others were prohibited due to their age.³⁸Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022. Of the 41 trans gun homicide perpetrators prohibited or likely prohibited from having a firearm, at least 30 (73 percent) were prohibited or likely prohibited due to prior felony convictions. At least three (7 percent) were prohibited due to age, though this is likely an undercount because we were not able to determine the type of gun used in several incidents.

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More than one-third of known perpetrators who used a gun to kill a trans person were legally prohibited from possessing a firearm.

Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022. Of 113 known trans gun homicide perpetrators, 41 perpetrators (36 percent) were confirmed prohibited or likely prohibited.

Our findings show that most perpetrators were men, they favored guns as their tool for violence, and they specifically targeted Black trans women and intimate partners. Tragically, every single shooter who killed a Black trans woman in an act of intimate partner violence was a man.³⁹Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022, and CDC, National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS), 2014–2020. Of the 17 Black trans women shot and killed by an intimate partner with a gun, 17 (100 percent) were men. This proportion of male perpetrators is similar to that of homicides among the general population. Of the 853 Black women killed by an intimate partner with a gun where the perpetrator’s gender is known, 830 (98 percent) were men. The ease of access to guns in the US enables and empowers violence motivated by misogyny and racism.

Discrimination and hate were behind many homicides of transgender people.

Domestic violence, perpetrated by intimate partners and family members, was responsible for the deaths of many trans people.

Our research shows that intimate partners or family members—people who victims were close with—perpetrated nearly one in five homicides of trans people where the perpetrator is known.⁴⁰Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022. Of 228 homicide victims, 44 (19 percent) trans homicide victims were killed by an intimate partner (37; 16 percent) or family member (7; 3 percent).  Trans people killed with a gun were nearly twice as likely to be killed by a family member or intimate partner than were gun homicide victims generally.⁴¹Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022, and CDC, National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS), 2014–2020. Of 165 trans gun homicides, 31 perpetrators (19 percent) were family members or intimate partners. Of 58,978 gun homicides, 6,879 (12 percent) were family members or intimate partners.  Research has shown that transgender people are two to three times more likely to experience physical and sexual intimate partner violence compared to cisgender people.⁴²Sarah M Peitzmeier, et al., “Intimate Partner Violence in Transgender Populations: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Prevalence and Correlates,” American Journal of Public Health 100, no. 9 (September 2020): e1–e14, https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.305774. Family members also perpetrate violence: a 2022 survey of trans people in the US found that more than one in 10 adult respondents stated that a family member was violent towards them because they were transgender.⁴³Limited to adult respondents who grew up in the same household with family, guardians, or foster parents. Sandy E. James et al., “Early Insights: A Report of the 2022 US Transgender Survey,” National Center for Transgender Equality, February 2024, https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/2022%20USTS%20Early%20Insights%20Report_FINAL.pdf. Guns were the weapon of choice in the majority of these domestic homicides of trans people,⁴⁴Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022. Of 44 trans homicide victims killed by an intimate partner or family member, 31 (70 percent) were killed with a gun. and were used even more frequently when the victim was a Black trans woman—in 75 percent of incidents.⁴⁵Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022. Of the 24 Black trans women killed by an intimate partner or family member, 18 (75 percent) were killed with a gun. Domestic violence particularly affected women, gender non-conforming, non-binary, or Two-Spirit individuals.⁴⁶Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022. Of 31 trans gun homicide victims killed by an intimate partner or family member, 28 (90 percent) of these victims had a gender that included “woman,” “gender non-conforming,” “non-binary,” or “Two-Spirit.”

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Nearly one in five trans victims of homicide were killed by an intimate partner or family member.

Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022. Of 228 homicide victims, 44 (19 percent) trans homicide victims were killed by an intimate partner (37; 16 percent) or family member (7; 3 percent).

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Housing insecurity or homelessness can increase exposure to violence.⁴⁸Izraelle I. McKinnon et al., “Experiences of Unstable Housing among High School Students—Youth Risk Behavior Survey, United States, 2021,” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Supplements 72, no. 1 (2023): 29–36, http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.su7201a4.

We find that one-third of the trans homicide victims whose housing status was known were experiencing some form of housing insecurity or were homeless at the time of their deaths.⁴⁹Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022. Of 57 victims whose housing status was known, 19 victims (33 percent) were homeless or housing insecure. Nearly 80 percent of these people were killed with guns.⁵⁰Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022. Of 19 victims whose housing status was homeless or housing insecure, 15 victims (79 percent) were killed with a gun. Transgender people comprise a disproportionate number of the homeless population in the US,⁵¹The National Alliance to End Homelessness, “Transgender Homeless Adults & Unsheltered Homelessness: What the Data Tell Us,” 2020, https://endhomelessness.org/resource/transgender-homeless-adults-unsheltered-homelessness-what-the-data-tell-us/; Brodie Fraser et al., “LGBTIQ+ Homelessness: A Review of the Literature,” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16, no. 15 (2019): 2677, https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16152677. and inadequate shelter resources and training, as well as single-gender requirements by some service providers can keep them on the streets, and in harm’s way.⁵² Fraser et al., “LGBTIQ+ Homelessness.”

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Discrimination in employment can lead to economic precarity and marginalization.⁵⁴ Human Rights Campaign, “Dismantling a Culture of Violence,” October 2021, https://reports.hrc.org/dismantling-a-culture-of-violence.

Transgender people navigate the complexities of work and school in a variety of ways. Among the half of trans homicide victims in our study with known occupations, a significant proportion were students, worked in the entertainment and beauty industry, or in food service.⁵⁵Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022. Of all 228 trans homicide victims, employment type was known for 115 victims (50 percent). Among those occupations with a frequency above 10: 22 were students or minors, 20 worked in Food Preparation and Serving, and Sales; 19 worked in Arts, Design, Entertainment and Sports Media; 15 victims worked in Personal Care and Service; and 14 did Sex Work. Notably, some of them held multiple positions, and were engaged in trans and LGBTQ+ advocacy outside their day jobs. Fourteen individuals were known to have engaged in sex work, 11 of whom were suspected to have been killed by clients.⁵⁶Ten identified perpetrators of homicides of victims who were sex workers were suspected to have engaged the victim for sex work. Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022. Of 14 trans homicide victims known to engage in sex work, 11 (79 percent) were suspected to have been killed by a client.  The criminalization of sex work can push those workers to the margins of society, increasing their exposure to discrimination by police and risk of violence.⁵⁷Transgender Law Center, “Freedom to Thrive,” https://transgenderlawcenter.org/trans-agenda-freedom-thrive/, accessed October 2024.

Occupations of Trans Victims of Homicide

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Harassment and violence from law enforcement⁵⁹ Christy Mallory, Amira Hasenbush, and Brad Sears, “Discrimination and Harassment by Law Enforcement Officers in the LGBT Community,” UCLA School of Law, Williams Institute, March 2015, https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/lgbt-discrim-law-enforcement/. against trans people worsens an already fraught relationship and can lead to the loss of trans lives.

Law enforcement officers or armed security killed 10 trans people over six years, accounting for 4 percent of all homicides of trans people.⁶⁰Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022. Of all 228 trans homicides, the perpetrator was a law enforcement officer or security guard in 10 cases (4 percent). This violence adds to fear and distrust of law enforcement among trans folks. In the most recent US Transgender Survey, 62 percent of respondents reported that they were “very uncomfortable” or “somewhat uncomfortable” asking for help from the police when needed because of their gender identity or expression.⁶¹James et al., “A Report of the 2022 U.S. Transgender Survey.”

Violence towards trans people is happening within the broader context of hateful rhetoric and anti-trans legislative efforts.

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Nearly six in 10 trans gun homicides take place in the South.

Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022. Of 165 trans gun homicides, 94 (57 percent) took place in the South.

According to the Trans Legislation Tracker, so far in 2024, 45 anti-trans bills spanning 16 states have been passed.⁶²Trans Legislation Tracker, accessed October 2024, https://translegislation.com/. The Tracker describes that these bills target a range of points of access and equality in trans people’s lives from healthcare, to education, to sex and gender markers on government ID⁶³Trans Legislation Tracker, accessed October 2024, https://translegislation.com/.—all of which send a harmful message that transgender people are not worthy of equal protection under the law or recognition as full members of our society.⁶⁴Shahbazian and Buerger, “Anti-trans Dangerous Speech during the 2024 U.S. Election.” Their proliferation has also been linked to decreasing mental health, and even rising suicide attempts.⁶⁵Wilson Y. Lee et al., “State-Level Anti-transgender Laws Increase Past-Year Suicide Attempts among Transgender and Non-binary Young People in the USA,” Nature Human Behavior (2024), https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01979-5.  These anti-trans laws are a national issue, but have found a particular home in Southern states with weak gun laws.⁶⁶The Human Rights Campaign, “Map: Attacks on Gender Affirming Care by State,” 2024, https://www.hrc.org/resources/attacks-on-gender-affirming-care-by-state-map; Trans Legislation Tracker, “2024 Anti-trans Bills Tracker,” 2024, https://translegislation.com/.  Indeed, 54 percent of trans homicides occur in the South; that number increases to close to 60 percent when a gun is involved.⁶⁷Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022. Of all 228 trans homicides, 123 (54 percent) took place in the South. Of 165 trans gun homicides, 94 (57 percent) took place in the South. States were assigned to a region as categorized by the Census Region designation in CDC WONDER.

More than half of gun homicides of trans people took place in the South.

Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022.

Last updated: 7.29.2024

Florida and Texas stand out as particularly dangerous places for trans people. Nearly one-fifth of all gun homicides of trans people in our study took place in those two southern states.⁶⁸Everytown Research analysis of Transgender Homicide Tracker, 2017–2022. Of the 165 trans gun homicides, 30 (18 percent) took place in Florida or Texas. Of all 106,310 gun homicides victims in the US, 16,146 (15 percent) victims were from Florida or Texas. Everytown Research analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, WONDER, Underlying Cause of Death, 2017–2022. Both of these states are missing key gun safety laws and have had anti-trans bills signed into law in recent years.⁶⁹Human Rights Campaign, “Gov. DeSantis Signs Slate of Extreme Anti-LGBTQ+ Bills, Enacting a Record-Shattering Number of Discriminatory Measures into Law,” May 17, 2023, https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/gov-desantis-signs-slate-of-extreme-anti-lgbtq-bills-enacting-a-record-shattering-number-of-discriminatory-measures-into-law; Alex Nguyen and William Melhado, “Gov. Greg Abbott Signs Legislation Barring Trans Youth from Accessing Transition-Related Care,” Texas Tribune, June 2, 2023, https://www.texastribune.org/2023/06/02/texas-gender-affirming-care-ban/. They are also states in which the gay/trans panic defense—a legal defense strategy that “legitimizes and excuses violent and lethal behavior against members of the LGBTQ+ community”⁷⁰Alexandra Holden, “The Gay/Trans Panic Defense: What It Is and How to End It,” American Bar Association, March 31, 2020, https://www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/publications/member-features/gay-trans-panic-defense/.—has yet to be prohibited.⁷¹National LGBTQ+ Bar Association, “LGBTQ+ ‘Panic’ Defense Legislation Map,” 2024, https://lgbtqbar.org/programs/advocacy/gay-trans-panic-defense/gay-trans-panic-defense-legislation/.

Solutions

As with gun violence more broadly, there are laws, policies, and practices that can stem the tide of violence and help save trans lives.

Combat discrimination against trans people.

Discrimination and hate play a unique role in fueling violence in America. Over the past several years, campaigns to pass anti-trans policies including limiting access to gender-affirming healthcare,⁷²GLMA, “Equality Maps: Bans on Trans Youth Medical Care,” accessed October 2024. https://www.glma.org/equality_maps_bans_on_trans_y.php.  censoring LGBTQ+ history in schools,⁷³ACLU, “How LGBTQ Voices Are Being Erased in Classrooms,” June 27, 2022, https://www.aclu.org/news/lgbtq-rights/how-lgbtq-voices-are-being-erased-in-classrooms-censorship. and further enshrining anti-trans discrimination—from bathrooms to sports fields—has swept across states throughout the country.⁷⁴Movement Advancement Project, “Bans on Transgender People Using Public Bathrooms and Facilities According to their Gender Identity,” accessed October 2024, https://www.lgbtmap.org/equality-maps/nondiscrimination/bathroom_bans; Movement Advancement Project, “Bans on Transgender Youth Participation in Sports,” accessed October 2024, https://www.lgbtmap.org/equality-maps/youth/sports_participation_bans.  These dangerous policies can amplify an already threatening and violent subculture that harms trans people, raising the risk of both suicide and homicide against trans people.⁷⁵Shahbazian and Buerger, “Anti-trans Dangerous Speech during the 2024 U.S. Election.” Leading LGBTQ+ advocacy groups have been hard at work to help states proactively pass laws to protect the rights of trans and LGBTQ+ people, including laws that expand hate crime definitions to include crimes motivated by gender identity,⁷⁶HRC, “A Guide to State Level Advocacy following Enactment of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act,” 2014, https://hrc-prod-requests.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/files/assets/resources/HRC-Hate-Crimes-Guide-2014.pdf. preventing gender-affirming healthcare information from being used to criminalize doctors and patients,⁷⁷GLAAD, “Medical Association Statements in Support of Health Care for Transgender People and Youth,” June 26, 2024, https://glaad.org/medical-association-statements-supporting-trans-youth-healthcare-and-against-discriminatory/. and supporting trans students at school.⁷⁸Human Rights Campaign, “Welcoming Schools Annual Report 2024,” 2024, https://www.hrc.org/resources/welcoming-schools-annual-report.

Manage upstream risk factors, like housing insecurity, inequality, and poverty. 

Inequities in our justice, health, housing, and education systems exacerbate the gun violence crisis in a way that heavily impacts many LGBTQ+ people—especially trans people, who face multiple forms of discrimination. Upstream solutions to address these issues are critical in combating gun violence. Housing insecurity is associated with intimate partner violence,⁷⁹Joanne Pavao et al., “Intimate Partner Violence and Housing Instability,” American Journal of Preventive Medicine 32, no. 2 (2007): 143–46, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2006.10.008; Izraelle I. McKinnon et al., “Experiences of Unstable Housing among High School Students—Youth Risk Behavior Survey, United States, 2021,” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Supplements 72, no. 1 (2023): 29–36, http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.su7201a4. and high rent burden and economic deprivation are associated with higher homicide rates in US cities.⁸⁰Andrew C. Gray and Karen F. Parker, “Housing Instability and Homicide: Exploring Variation in Housing Indicators on Homicide and Rates of Urban Crime,” Homicide Studies (2023), https://doi.org/10.1177/10887679231212400. Concentrated disadvantage,⁸¹Alyssa W. Chamberlain and John R. Hipp, “It’s All Relative: Concentrated Disadvantage within and across Neighborhoods and Communities, and the Consequences for Neighborhood Crime,” Journal of Criminal Justice 43, no. 6 (2015): 431–43, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2015.08.004; John R. Hipp and Daniel K. Yates, “Ghettos, Thresholds, and Crime: Does Concentrated Poverty Really Have an Accelerating Increasing Effect on Crime?” Criminology 49, no. 4 (2011): 955–90, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2011.00249.x. poverty,⁸²Richard Stansfield and Karen F. Parker, “Teasing Out the Effects of Macro-conditions on Race-Specific Male Homicide Rates: Do Distinct Predictors Vary by Racial Group and over Time?” Social Science Research 42, no. 3 (2013): 633–49, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2012.12.015. and income inequality⁸³John R. Hipp, “Income Inequality, Race, and Place: Does the Distribution of Race and Class within Neighborhoods Affect Crime Rates?” Criminology 45, no. 3 (2007): 665–97, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2007.00088.x; John R. Hipp, “Spreading the Wealth: The Effect of the Distribution of Income and Race/Ethnicity across Households and Neighborhoods on City Crime Trajectories,” Criminology 49, no. 3 (2011): 631–65, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2011.00238.x. are also linked to higher crime rates and homicide. Moreover, trans people comprise a disproportionate number of the unhoused population and one-third of adult trans people in the US report living in poverty⁸⁴James et al., “A Report of the 2022 U.S. Transgender Survey.”—a trend driven by a pay gap wherein trans people make 70 cents for every dollar made by the typical worker.⁸⁵Human Rights Campaign, “The Wage Gap among LGBTQ+ Workers in the United States,” 2021, https://www.hrc.org/resources/the-wage-gap-among-lgbtq-workers-in-the-united-states.

Measures to improve housing security and to combat poverty, such as Summer Youth Employment Programs, would serve to help protect the lives of trans people from gun violence. Leading LGBTQ+ advocacy groups have advocated for investments in shelter access and for breaking down patterns of housing discrimination that harm trans people,⁸⁶Christy Mallory and Brad Sears, “Evidence of Housing Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity,” UCLA School of Law, Williams Institute, February 2016, https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/lgbt-housing-discrimination-us/. as well as economic empowerment and community-based workforce development programs providing an array of services to help queer and trans people navigate employment and gain increased economic stability.⁸⁷Human Rights Campaign, ” accessed October 8, 2024, “Economic Empowerment Programs,” https://www.hrc.org/our-work/economic-empowerment-programs. And for trans youth specifically, these groups have advocated for programs that equip educators and parents with tools to protect LGBTQ+ kids in schools and to ensure these young people are set up to flourish in adulthood.⁸⁸Human Rights Campaign, ” accessed October 8, 2024, “Welcoming Schools,” https://welcomingschools.org/. Beyond preventative measures, access to appropriate crisis intervention and safety planning, including services provided by LGBTQ+ service organizations, are key tools in reducing violence for survivors of intimate partner violence or family violence.⁸⁹Anti-Violence Project, ” accessed October 8, 2024, “Get Support,” https://avp.org/get-help/get-support/. 

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Require background checks on all gun sales.

Under federal law, background checks are only required for gun sales conducted by licensed firearm dealers. While federal regulations were expanded in 2024 to require more unlicensed gun sellers to become licensed firearm dealers⁹¹US Department of Justice and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, “Definition of ‘Engaged in the Business’ as a Dealer in Firearms,” Federal Register 89, no. 77 (April 19, 2024): 28968–9093, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-04-19/pdf/2024-07838.pdf; Biden-Harris White House, “FACT SHEET: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Announces New Action to Implement Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, Expanding Firearm Background Checks to Fight Gun Crime,” April 11, 2024, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/04/11/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-new-action-to-implement-bipartisan-safer-communities-act-expanding-firearm-background-checks-to-fight-gun-crime/. and, in turn, run background checks, it is still far too easy for people who are prohibited from having guns to get their hands on one by purchasing from an unlicensed seller, who may be selling guns out of their garage, online, or at gun shows. Research has found that states that go beyond federal law and require background checks on all gun sales are associated with 10 percent lower homicide rates.⁹²Michael Siegel and Claire Boine, “What Are the Most Effective Policies in Reducing Gun Homicides?” Rockefeller Institute of Government, March 2019, https://bit.ly/2YPAz7P. 

22%

22 percent of Americans report acquiring their most recent gun without a background check.

Miller M., Hepburn L., and Azrael D., “Firearm Acquisition Without Background Checks: Results of a National Survey”. Annals of Internal Medicine. (2017).

93%

93 percent of American voters support requiring background checks on all gun sales, including 89 percent of Republicans and 89 percent of gun owners.

Everytown & Giffords Gun Safety Memo

Last updated: 3.25.2021

Prohibit domestic abusers and other people with dangerous histories from having guns. 

Federal law prohibits certain categories of people with dangerous histories from having guns, including people with felony convictions and many domestic abusers under restraining orders or with misdemeanor domestic violence convictions. States can protect people by passing laws that mirror the federal prohibitors as well as laws that prohibit additional categories of people with dangerous histories,  including people with recent violent misdemeanor convictions, dating partners under domestic violence restraining orders, and convicted stalkers. It’s also important that states require prohibited people to relinquish firearms when they become prohibited from having them, ensuring that they cannot keep weapons they already have at home. 

Prohibit people with hate crime convictions from having guns. 

While people convicted of felonies are prohibited from having firearms under federal law, people convicted of a hate crime misdemeanor, including a violent or threatening hate crime misdemeanor, are not. Half of US states have acted to prohibit these individuals, either by making their convictions into felonies or by extending the state’s gun laws to reach hate crimes. The remaining half of states need to act.

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Raise the age to purchase firearms to 21.⁹⁵Limited exceptions for certain types of long guns may be appropriate in some circumstances.  

3x

Eighteen to 20-year-olds commit gun homicides at triple the rate of people 21 years and older.

Everytown Research analysis using FBI Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) and US Census American Community Survey data 2016–2020.

Last updated: 3.1.2022

Federal law requires a person to be 21 years old to buy a handgun, or 18 years old to buy a long gun, from a licensed firearm dealer. The law is even weaker for purchases from an unlicensed seller, with an 18-year minimum age for handguns and no minimum age for long guns.

Improve data collection and investigative practices. 

While federal hate crimes statutes cover hate or bias crimes committed on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, 35 states do not explicitly include both sexual orientation and gender identity in their hate crime laws.⁹⁶US Department of Justice, “Laws and Policies: Federal Bias Categories Included by State Laws,” December 2023, https://www.justice.gov/hatecrimes/laws-and-policies.  This not only prevents many bias-motivated crimes from being prosecuted as such, but also limits research into the prevalence of hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people. Data collection is further impeded by inconsistent law enforcement reporting, and submission of data to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program on hate crimes is optional for law enforcement agencies.⁹⁷FBI, “Hate Crime Statistics,” accessed October 8, 2024, https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/more-fbi-services-and-information/ucr/hate-crime.  States should pass laws that would prioritize efforts to track hate crimes and law enforcement should receive training on how to investigate and report hate crimes.

Conclusion

Trans people are being killed, and guns are fueling the crisis. Many of the same states that have passed laws targeting transgender people⁹⁸Trans Legislation Tracker, accessed October 2024, https://translegislation.com/; Human Rights Campaign, “New HRC State Equality Index Shows Devastating Impact of Radical Anti-LGBTQ+ 2023 State Legislative Season,” press release, January 30, 2024, https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/new-hrc-state-equality-index-shows-devastating-impact-of-radical-anti-lgbtq-2023-state-legislative-season; UCLA School of Law, Williams Institute, “Nearly 100,000 Transgender Youth Live in States That Banned Access to Health Care, Sports, or School Bathrooms in 2023,” press release, October 19, 2023, https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/press/trans-leg-summary-press-release/; Orion Rummler, “More States Propose Bills to Exclude Trans, Nonbinary People from Public Life,” The 19th, January 10, 2024, https://19thnews.org/2024/01/transgender-state-bills-legal-recognition/. have also dangerously weakened gun laws. This relationship between legislative hostility towards the LGBTQ+ community and the increased risk of violence faced by transgender people is evident⁹⁹Shahbazian and Buerger, “Anti-trans Dangerous Speech during the 2024 U.S. Election.” and alarming: 46 percent of respondents to the 2022 US Trans Survey said violence against trans people was one of the most important policy issues to them.¹⁰⁰Advocates for Trans Equality Education Fund, “Civic Engagement in the 2022 U.S. Transgender Survey,” August 2024, https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/2024-08/USTS_2022CivicEngagementReport_Final.pdf. This violence is not occurring in a vacuum—anti-trans hatred, racism, and misogyny are all inextricably linked, and create an environment in which Black trans women, in particular, are disproportionately killed. Regardless of gender, race or ethnicity, where they lived, or how old they were, the trans people killed were loved, are missed, and deserve to be remembered. While more research into this topic is needed, two things are clear: gun violence is affecting transgender people and strong gun safety laws can save lives.

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Resources

• Trans Lifeline Hotline provides community-based support services by trans people, for trans and questioning callers in crisis 24/7, without involving non-consensual rescue from police or first responders. They also provide services to promote economic security and individual safety. Call 1-877-565-8860.
• The National Domestic Violence Hotline provides free confidential support to people experiencing domestic violence and their loved ones anywhere in the US. Call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), text “START” to 88788, or chat online at thehotline.org. You can also find more resources on domestic violence legal assistance in English and Spanish at WomensLaw.org.
• The Ali Forney Center provides LGBTQ+ young people with services to reduce the harms of homelessness in New York City. They provide emergency and transitional housing, educational and vocational programs, as well as health care treatment and referrals. If you are seeking assistance, please contact us: (212) 206-0574 Ext 100 or stop by their Drop-In Center at 307 West 38th Street, 3rd Floor New York, NY 10018. More information at https://www.aliforneycenter.org/.

Acknowledgments

Everytown Research would like to gratefully acknowledge Insider Media for providing valuable investigative materials and insight, and to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and the National Center for Trans Equality for reviewing this report.