Transgender woman found burned beyond recognition in Florida, officials say

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The body of a black transgender woman, declared by the authorities as having been burned without any recognition, was found inside an abandoned car in Florida.

The victim, Bee Love Slater, 23, was the 18th transgender person known to have been killed in the United States this year, according to the Human Rights Campaign, a civil rights organization that traces anti-transgender violence.

The authorities had to use dental information to identify it after it was found on September 4, just outside Clewiston, Florida, a town on the southwest side of Lake OkeechobeeSteve Whidden, Sheriff of Hendry County, said Saturday night in an interview.

Sheriff Whidden stated that the investigators treated the case as a homicide but did not reveal any evidence to suggest that the murder was a hate crime.

"We do not have anything that shows it's a hate crime," he said. "We may have a motive, but I can not tell you what it is for now."

The authorities are currently reviewing a series of social media publications against Mrs. Slater prior to her death, according to Sheriff Whidden, who said that although these threats were not direct threats, they wanted to be harmed against Ms. Slater.

"There have been some posts on Facebook – this person has to die," said Sheriff Whidden, who did not want to specify whether the publications had been published by a person or by more than one person. because of the ongoing investigation.

Lawyers for victims of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender crimes said that Slater's death was part of what they saw as an alarming wave of violence against transgender people.

The Human Rights Campaign said that she was the 18th transgender person to have died violently since the beginning of the year. In 2018, defenders followed at least 26 of these deaths, the majority of whom were black transgender women.

"These victims are not numbers, they are people who have hopes and dreams, loved ones and communities that will miss them every day," the group said. says on Twitter after Mrs. Slater's death.

Janet Taylor, an old long time The Hendry County Commissioner said Saturday that death had rocked the tightly knit town of Clewiston, located about 65 km west of West Palm Beach.

"That's the feel of the community, that this is really a hate crime, "Taylor said. "Sexual Preferences – We Can not Judge About It. Our community just wants justice done for their family.

Ms. Taylor, founder of Glades Lives Matter, a community action group, said that Ms. Slater was not from the immediate area and that she would likely belong to Pahokee, Florida, which is about 30 miles from Clewiston.

"She did not deserve what she had," Taylor said.

The American Medical Association has described violence against transgender people as an "epidemic" and voted at a conference in June to adopt new policies to prevent such violence.

"According to the information available, the fatal violence against transgender people in the United States is on the rise and most of the victims were black transgender women", Bobby Mukkamala, member of the Association Council, said in a statement.

The new policies include public education on the disproportionate number of fatal attacks against black transgender women and support for a standardized database on hate crimes.

"The number of victims could be even higher due to under-reporting, and better data collection by law enforcement is needed to create strategies to prevent anti-transgender violence," Dr. Mukkamala I said.

American Union of Civil Liberties of Florida in a statement on Facebook: "Our society must work so that transsexuals can live without fear."