Viccky Gutierrez was a transgender woman of color from Honduras. On January 10, Bamby Salcedo, President and CEO of TransLatin@ Coalition, announced in a Facebook post Gutierrez’s death: “It is with deep sadness, rage and pain that I have to share with all of you that one of our sisters was brutally murdered in south Los Angeles last night.”
The murder of Viccky Gutierrez has now become the second this year involving a transgender woman. It has sent ripples throughout the transgender community, and one cannot help but feel a sense of danger as violence against the community has soared to a rate double that of 2017, the deadliest year on record for anti-transgender hate crimes and violence.
Jennicet Gutierrez, an activist for transgender liberation said “I reminded my trans Latina sisters and attendees the devastating wave of violence hitting the transgender community. Last year we had the highest number of murders. Most of the victims were Black trans women.” Beverly Tillery, the executive director of the New York City Anti-Violence Project, said that since the 2016 presidential election, her organization had recorded “a spike in incidents of hate violence”—both homicides and other crimes—against transgender people of color as well as members of the broader transgender community.
At 7 pm on January 12 hundreds of people gathered in solidarity on the corner of Vermont and Venice in Los Angeles to demand justice for Gutierrez. As candles burned brightly and emotions ran high, members of Viccky’s family stood with many other members of the community and marched toward the crime scene—Gutierrez’s home. As attendees marched in the name of justice, local police began to threaten dispersal and arrests, much like the police presence at the recent funeral of activist, Erica Garner last week. Though the threat was real, vigil attendees held fast, shutting down the streets in front of Viccky’s apartment building. The vigil included speakers and chants in English and Spanish, ending with the militant chant, “When the Trans Community’s under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” As the vigil for Viccky Gutierrez concluded, the message of resistance was not only heard, but felt as well.
Viccky’s murder is just one example of the rampage of violence created by the patriarchy under capitalist society and the damning policies of the Donald Trump administration. It has shown itself to be irrevocably hostile to all oppressed people and that it will continue to sympathize with the ruling class, creating more violence directed against our LGBTQ community. The ruling class must be stopped and removed from power so we can end its crimes.
The Trump Administration’s anti-trans/anti-women/anti-immigrant violence has taken the form of a travel ban on Muslims, a ban on transgender service members serving openly in the military, support for so-called “bathroom bills,” and massive cuts in programs to serve women, immigrants and LGBTQ people. There is currently no federal protection for trans people when it comes to discrimination in hiring, housing and medical care. The epidemic of violence and hate against transgender people is an urgent crisis that demands everyone’s immediate attention. Any violence against transgender people is unacceptable and will be met with resistance and uprising.
All progressive and revolutionary people should stand in solidarity with the transgender community and demand justice for Viccky Gutierrez. In a time when violence against the LGBTQ community is so high, we must stand with all LGBTQ people and continue to pursue the end of anti-transgender violence once and for all.
Rest in Power Viccky Gutierrez!
