Broadcast TV news increased its coverage of violence facing the transgender community after Umbrella Academy star Elliott Page discussed the ongoing epidemic in a coming-out post, according a new report from the progressive nonprofit Media Matters for America.
On Tuesday, the Oscar-nominated actor opened up about his gender identity for the first time in a statement shared on Twitter. In his post, Page noted that “40 transgender people have been murdered” this year and stated that “the majority [of victims] were Black and Latinx trans women.” These homicides mark the deadliest year on record for the trans community since the Human Rights Campaign first began publishing anti-trans violence reports in 2015.
Page also called out lawmakers who have long attempted to enforce anti-trans policies, such as North Carolina’s House Bill 2, which attempted to ban trans people from the public bathroom that most closely matches their gender identity, and a law passed in Idaho earlier this year prohibiting trans students athletes from competing in accordance with their sense of self.
“To the political leaders who work to criminalize trans health care and deny our right to exist and to all those with a massive platform who continue to spew hostility towards the trans community: you have blood on your hands,” Page wrote in his statement.
Following Page’s announcement, Media Matters reports that several broadcast news outlets covering the story also discussed anti-trans violence, including NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. NBC also discussed the attack on Emmy-nominated Orange Is the New Black actress Laverne Cox, who along with a friend, were victims of transphobic violence in Los Angeles earlier this week. The channel is the only news channel to mention the assault, according to the report.
During the NBC segment, reporter Kate Snow also interviewed Clara Taylor, the mother of Felycya Harris, a 33-year-old Black trans woman killed in October. Harris, who worked as an interior decorator and taught dance lessons, was found dead in Meadowbrook Park in Augusta, Georgia, and her death marked the 31st life lost this year. Harris’ killer has not yet been identified.
During the segment, Taylor said that trans and gender-nonconforming people need to know that they “have somebody that’s willing to fight for them.” “A lot of them are so scared,” she said.
