For many transgender people—especially transgender women—the reality of daily struggle is rarely more than a heartbeat away. A brief look at recent statistics only tells half the story. In 2012, for instance, 53 percent of anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) homicides specifically targeted transgender women. The majority of these victims are women of color.
In the early hours of Aug. 17, 21-year-old Islan Nettles was beaten to death in Harlem, New York. Male attackers first sexually harassed, then surrounded Nettles and a group of friends, shouting anti-gay and trans-phobic slurs. At the end of the incident, Nettles lost consciousness as the group scattered. She was taken to Harlem Hospital, where she died five days later.
The transgender community faces a devastating loss in Islan Nettles’ death. Beyond the statistics, we must understand the bigotry that makes capitalist society an especially dangerous place for Black transgender women like Islan Nettles. We must fight back, because we cannot stand by and lose another valuable life to hateful violence.
Who was Islan Nettles?
At the time of her death, Islan Nettles was 21 years old. Reports of Nettles’ life describe the young woman as passionate, ambitious and creative. As a high school student, she often spent her time drawing in her notebooks, thinking of ideas to incorporate into her future plans as a fashion designer.
According to many, Nettles was shy and lacked confidence before coming out as transgender. Although she was assigned “male” at birth, Nettles was said to have never felt boyish or masculine, and began outwardly embracing her female identity in her late teens.
She wore female clothing full-time, changed her legal name to Islan, and came out to her family and friends. In 2011, she started hormone replacement therapy. Her newfound self-confidence carried her to new heights.
While partially leaving home and couch surfing at friends’ homes, Nettles managed to earn her associate’s degree. She got a job at a clothing store. She began planning for her future as a fashion designer, and wanted to devise her own line of clothing products. In the weeks before her murder, Nettles was busy designing 10 original outfits for a local fashion show. Accounts of her life portray a fearless and determined young woman who was unafraid to express both her gender identity and her creativity.
On the night of Aug. 16, all of Islan Nettles’ plans came to a halt. Very close to Harlem’s Police Service Area 6 building, Nettles was taunted mercilessly by a group of men and beaten to death by 20-year-old Paris Wilson. At a vigil organized by her family on Aug. 28, her mother, Delores Nettles said, “My baby can’t come back, my baby can’t go to school or to work like she wanted to, and it’s not fair.”
Islan Nettles’ untimely death reinforces what many working-class transgender people have known for years: It is not enough to fight against the oppression of gay, lesbian and bisexual people while ignoring the blatant and widespread discrimination against transgender individuals, especially transgender individuals of color. It is not enough to fight for visibility for transgender people in mainstream media when hundreds are dying, starving and unable to access decent and respectful medical care. It is not enough to sit back and mourn the death of Islan Nettles without dealing return blows to capitalism and imperialism, which are what creates and perpetuates gender oppression and poverty in the first place.
We must celebrate and remember Islan Nettles’ short life. The best way to honor her memory is to take action against trans-phobia, racism and police brutality and struggle to abolish capitalism, the system that begets all of these evils, so another Islan Nettles does not have to die in vain.
