Transgender Attacks in DC - Troubling Trend

This morning I listened to a report on NPR that gave chilling details of the attacks on transgender DC residents in recent days.  The most abhorent of these was described in the article.

"On Aug. 26, an off-duty police officer stood on the hood of a car and shot through its windshield, hitting two transgender women and a male friend, wounding one critically. The officer is a 20-year veteran of the city's police force and is currently in jail, awaiting trial."

This is more than disturbing, and when coupled with the DC Police reluctance to call these attacks Hate Crimes it gives a picture of violence against transgender citizens that is pervasive. 

A study, conducted by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the National Center for Transgender Equality, surveyed nearly 6,500 transgender Americans.  In that study they found that 26 percent of people surveyed had been victims of physical assaults because they were transgender.

These assaults and this trend needs to be brought to a higher profile, perhaps if enough people are as horrified as I am by this something will be done to stem toe violence.