Black Trans Woman Deeniquia Dodds Is At Least The 15th Trans Person Murdered In The U.S. This Year

Feature image via Deeniquia Dodds Facebook

The devastating trend continues: Today, NBC News reported that Black trans woman Deeniquia Dodds was shot in Washington D.C. on the fourth of July. Deeniquia, known as “Dee Dee” to her friends, was taken to the hospital where she was kept alive on life support for ten days before passing away yesterday. According to Dee Dee’s Facebook page, she attended Woodson High School in the greater D.C. area and graduated in 2012. She was 22 years old.

LGBT rights activist and family spokesperson Earline Budd told NBC: “Her murder reminds us all of how often the transgender community is targeted for violence in our society.”

Indeed, Dee Dee became at least the 15th trans person murdered in the United States this year, adding her name to the following heartbreaking list.

Monica Loera (Austin, TX), 43 years old

Jasmine Sierra (Bakersfield, CA), 52 years old

Kayden Clarke (Mesa, AZ), 24 years old

Veronica Banks Cano (San Antonio, TX) 40 years old

Maya Young (Philadelphia, PA), 25 years old

Demarkis Stansberry (Baton Rouge, LA), 30 years old

Kedarie/Kandicee Johnson (Burlington, IA), 16 years old

Kourtney Yochum (Los Angeles, CA), 32 years old

Shante Thompson (Houston, TX), 34 years old

Keyonna Blakeney (Washington D.C.), 22 years old

Reecey Walker (Wichita, Kansas), 32 years old

Mercedes Successful (Haines City, FL), 32 old

Amos Beede (Burrlington, VT), 38 years old

Goddess Diamond (New Orleans, LA), 20 years old

Dee Dee Dodds (Washington D.C.), 22 years old

While transgender rights and representation move slowly forward in this country, trans people continue to be targets of political scapegoating. This year’s Republican National Committee platform, which began publicly taking shape this week, has added amendments to deny trans people the right to use restrooms that match their gender identity and apparently uses regressive and combative language to describe both gay and trans people.

The longer this power-grabbing false propaganda continues against trans people on a national stage, and the longer pop culture portrayals of trans people continue to perpetuate harmful stereotypes, the harder it’s going to be to stop the dehumanization that fuels this pandemic of violence — particularly because the majority of trans people who are murdered are Black trans women who are forced to live at the terrifying intersection of racism and transmisogyny.

Our Trans Editor, Mey Valdivia Rude, added that it’s time for cis people to step up when they say that trans rights are having a moment right now.

Things are supposed to be getting better. Cis people are noticing us and writing about us and making TV shows and movies about us. But really it just seems like things are getting better for our “allies.” Trans people, mostly trans women of color, and again, mostly Black trans women who sleep with men, are being murdered at a higher rate than any measured year before. It’s hard to look at all the articles being written about how this is our time and our moment in history and not explode in anger when so many of our Black and Brown sisters and elders aren’t being allowed to see this “historic moment” happen by the same cis society that is supposedly giving us this moment right now. Trans people, trans women of color, Black trans women need to be protected, prioritized and not fucking murdered.

Here is a list of 24 actions you can take right now to help trans women of color survive.

A vigil to honor Dee Dee will be held near her family’s home in the courtyard at 5255 Clay Terrace NE on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

Deeniquia Dodds. Say her name.

Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?

Join AF+!

Heather Hogan

Heather Hogan is an Autostraddle senior editor who lives in New York City with her wife, Stacy, and their cackle of rescued pets. She's a member of the Television Critics Association, GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, and a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer critic. You can also find her on Twitter and Instagram.

Heather has written 1719 articles for us.

7 Comments

  1. Thank you for continuing to report on this. It is so heartbreaking but so important.

  2. i was following this story here in dc, thank you for the update. so sad.

    one note: there are actually two schools called “Woodson High School” in the greater DC area. you may want to specify that she attended HD Woodson, which is in DC. (as opposed to WT Woodson, located in Fairfax, VA.)

  3. Some day there will be no more hate. No more violence. No more funerals. But not today.

    I need to believe future generations will look back on this time as barely above the Dark Ages. I won’t live to see it, but I need to know it’ll happen.

  4. Racism the great worry of country where the people are being affected very badly about which the government should think about.Murdering those black guy will definitely affect our future generation. http://cocelixirsbox.com/

  5. “…Cis people are noticing us and writing about us and making TV shows and movies about us. But really it just seems like things are getting better for our ‘allies’…”

    This part rings especially true. With trans visibility (especially on television) there seems to be this self-aggrandizing tone that is masqueraded as inclusion and/or real recognition of privilege. In other words, “We have a trans character, we are so cool and inclusive” is definitely the dominating narrative.

    I can only imagine what it’s like to be talked about so much (in an “empowering light”) while simultaneously getting murdered.

    Very very sad.

  6. Look at who are killing us!

    Any females killing us?

    There is your answer…. always the same answer for females.

    If I want masculinity, I will only want a woman…. a lesbian… one of you…who presents as masculine of center. I am a feminine transfemale….and I could never fall for a male….
    Masculine of center is not the same as being male.

Comments are closed.