Reggie Bullock's Sister Murdered in Baltimore

[akashicrecorder]

Reggie's sister was a transgender woman who renamed herself Mia. She was born male (hence Reggie's distraught tweets afterward that refer to her as Kevin).

She was the second transgender woman to be killed in Baltimore in two months.

A sad, sad situation all around. It's a shame people can't feel safe to walk the streets because of personal choices... choices that affect no one but themselves.

I also want to call it strange that Reggie refers to his sister as Kevin/him/he, but maybe that's not strange at all. It is actually probably understandable. Heck, even I myself am at odds with whether to use opposite sex nouns/pronouns for transgender people. (I [like many in the writing world] had a similar dilemma with Bradley Manning.)

Of course violence in Baltimore is nothing new. But there is something more sinister than usual about a murder based on disagreement over someone's sexual choices. This city (like many others) has a really long way to go...

http://deadspin.com/reggie-bullocks-...ore-1606568815

[jonboy79]

How do you know that "she" was killed for being trans-gender ed?

Seems like quite a stretch to assume, at least from your link. Sounds to me that you WANT that to be the reason for some agenda.

Can't it just be random or drug related like the other 300 homicides per year in Bmore?

[akashicrecorder]

How do you know that "she" was killed for being trans-gender ed?

Seems like quite a stretch to assume, at least from your link. Sounds to me that you WANT that to be the reason for some agenda.

Can't it just be random or drug related like the other 300 homicides per year in Bmore?

Calm down there, sparky. "Agenda"? Yeesh. I never said I "knew" for a fact. I'm just operating under that assumption. And I don't "WANT" anyone to be murdered, ever (unless we're talking about federal execution of those who are a proven danger to society; another discussion).

True, the facts of this case are not out yet. It's quite possible she was not murdered for the fact she was transgender. It's also possible and not unlikely that she was. I will admit my mind skews to the latter in cases like this.

[AirFlacco]

[akashicrecorder]

Sorry, I forgot to mention how this is all Obama's fault.

[Haloti92]

How do you know that "she" was killed for being trans-gender ed?

Seems like quite a stretch to assume, at least from your link. Sounds to me that you WANT that to be the reason for some agenda.

Can't it just be random or drug related like the other 300 homicides per year in Bmore?

Exactly. They want another Matthew Sheppard moment (complete with histrionic feature film), despite the fact the Sheppard 'story' was completely fabricated by activists for political reasons.

And the reason Bullock refers to his brother as a "he" is because his brother is obviously a "he" (even while wearing women's clothes).

[jonboy79]

Calm down there, sparky. "Agenda"? Yeesh. I never said I "knew" for a fact. I'm just operating under that assumption. And I don't "WANT" anyone to be murdered, ever (unless we're talking about federal execution of those who are a proven danger to society; another discussion).

True, the facts of this case are not out yet. It's quite possible she was not murdered for the fact she was transgender. It's also possible and not unlikely that she was. I will admit my mind skews to the latter in cases like this.

I didn't mean that you wanted someone killed, simply that it appears you want the reason they were killed to fit in the nice little box you constructed.

I, honestly, think it is FAR more likely they were killed because of drugs/drug money/debt, etc, as that is why MOST people are murdered in Baltimore, and I have no reason to believe otherwise, currently. Actually, most studies I have seen suggest that homosexual individuals are significantly more likely to be drug users as well, making this scenario even more likely.

IF My brother Adam became Adele, It would take me a LONG time to refer to him as a her and by her new chosen name Adele. It's not in any way, shape or form because I don't agree with the decision or anything remotely close to that, it is simply 30+ years of ingrained memories fighting the new appearance. It would simply be a hard habit to break, and I don't think habit is even the right word for it.

[akashicrecorder]

The vitriol here is puzzling and astounding.

Two different posters have now said that I (and "they," whoever "they" are) "want" something in particular. Why would you accuse anyone of "wanting" something as horrible as a human being's murder over sexual orientation?

I'll resist the temptation to speak on Shepard for the moment. (One p, by the way.) But even if it's correct, and I severely doubt it is, to say his murder

was completely fabricated by activists for political reasons

...so?

What's your problem? Do you lack the ability to empathize? Even if Shepard was not murdered for his homosexuality, gay people everywhere are indeed harassed and killed for their homosexuality. How is the fact that one person's case maybe not that way even relevant to the overall discussion?

I didn't mean that you wanted someone killed, simply that it appears you want the reason they were killed to fit in the nice little box you constructed.

Likewise, even if Reggie's sibling was murdered for a reason unrelated to being transgendered ... do you realize that doesn't matter? Because transgendered people have indeed been and are still harassed and killed for being transgendered?

For all of you descending with teeth bared, snarling--angry about something, who knows what: You are stunning and even a bit frightening. You need to check your priorities.

[akashicrecorder]

IF My brother Adam became Adele, It would take me a LONG time to refer to him as a her and by her new chosen name Adele. It's not in any way, shape or form because I don't agree with the decision or anything remotely close to that, it is simply 30+ years of ingrained memories fighting the new appearance. It would simply be a hard habit to break, and I don't think habit is even the right word for it.

I agree. You'll notice in my original post that I didn't indict anyone on this point. I understand.

I actually go a step beyond this and wonder if it's fair for a person to force society to call him/her by the pronoun that makes him/her feel best, which is why I brought up Bradley Manning. Bradley started requesting people call him she/her/Chelsea ... what if everyone agrees but then he then goes back to Bradley and he/him/his? Do we just stay on Pronoun Watch forever for everyone who has sexuality doubts?

[NCRAVEN]

The vitriol here is puzzling and astounding.

Two different posters have now said that I (and "they," whoever "they" are) "want" something in particular. Why would you accuse anyone of "wanting" something as horrible as a human being's murder over sexual orientation?

I'll resist the temptation to speak on Shepard for the moment. (One p, by the way.) But even if it's correct, and I severely doubt it is, to say his murder



...so?

What's your problem? Do you lack the ability to empathize? Even if Shepard was not murdered for his homosexuality, gay people everywhere are indeed harassed and killed for their homosexuality. How is the fact that one person's case maybe not that way even relevant to the overall discussion?



Likewise, even if Reggie's sibling was murdered for a reason unrelated to being transgendered ... do you realize that doesn't matter? Because transgendered people have indeed been and are still harassed and killed for being transgendered?

For all of you descending with teeth bared, snarling--angry about something, who knows what: You are stunning and even a bit frightening. You need to check your priorities.

Pretty sure people are responding in the context of people being murdered about their sexual preference or choice of being trans-gender cause that's how the thread was started.

I'm not saying you did anything wrong, just if you're wondering why everyone is, I think that's it.

[jonboy79]

The vitriol here is puzzling and astounding.

I HAVE NO CLUE WHY!!!

Re-read your first post.

Reggie's sister was a transgender woman who renamed herself Mia. She was born male (hence Reggie's distraught tweets afterward that refer to her as Kevin).

She was the second transgender woman to be killed in Baltimore in two months.

A sad, sad situation all around. It's a shame people can't feel safe to walk the streets because of personal choices... choices that affect no one but themselves.

I also want to call it strange that Reggie refers to his sister as Kevin/him/he, but maybe that's not strange at all. It is actually probably understandable. Heck, even I myself am at odds with whether to use opposite sex nouns/pronouns for transgender people. (I [like many in the writing world] had a similar dilemma with Bradley Manning.)

Of course violence in Baltimore is nothing new. But there is something more sinister than usual about a murder based on disagreement over someone's sexual choices. This city (like many others) has a really long way to go...

You suggest, matter of fact-ly, and not in a manner which reads as opinion, that....

Reggie's sibling WAS KILLED for being trans-gender-ed.
IF it doesn't matter if that is the real reason why, then why post a thread when you don't come REMOTELY CLOSE to showing that is the reason why.
Why not post a thread every time someone is murdered in Baltimore, you will be busy, it's summer, so likely more then one thread a day....
You suggest people can't feel free to walk the streets because of "personal choices" I thought being gay was not a choice? But you have stated as if you know for a fact that TG people SHOULD NOT feel safe walking the streets, because someone is just BOUND to kill them some day.

I think you made 1 VERY IRRESPONSIBLE assumption, that, IN MY OPINION, is not remotely close to likely. I'd say the chances that Kevin/Mia was murdered for being TG at well under 10%, and being drug related around 90%. I fully state that as my opinion however, and do not attempt to pass it off as fact as you have done.

[akashicrecorder]

I thought being gay was not a choice?

It's not. Transgendered =/= homoesexual. Transgendered refers to choosing to undergo surgical and hormonal procedures that make your body look and behave more like the gender you want. For example, it is indeed a choice for a man to cut his junk off and invert it inside of him to make a fake-vagina (sorry to be graphic) and to take a bunch of estrogen. That was the "personal choice" I was referring to. I didn't mean people choose to be gay because I wasn't talking about homosexuality.

But you have stated as if you know for a fact that TG people SHOULD NOT feel safe walking the streets, because someone is just BOUND to kill them some day.

I never said someone is bound to kill you if you're transgendered. I said it was sad that some people actually do have to live in fear because of personal choices they made that affected no one but them. It's a reality that people are targeted for reasons like that.

I think you made 1 VERY IRRESPONSIBLE assumption, that, IN MY OPINION, is not remotely close to likely. I'd say the chances that Kevin/Mia was murdered for being TG at well under 10%, and being drug related around 90%. I fully state that as my opinion however, and do not attempt to pass it off as fact as you have done.

I said it was an assumption. The phrase "pass it off" makes it sound like I deliberately deceived. I ran with that assumption based on the tenor of the article I read, but I could have waited until more facts came out to start the thread, that is true.

And then after you talk about passing off opinion as fact, you pull percent figures from your nether-regions? Come on.

IF it doesn't matter if that is the real reason why, then why post a thread when you don't come REMOTELY CLOSE to showing that is the reason why.

You're confusing the micro with the macro.

Of course, in the micro, I care if Mia/Kevin was killed primarily/solely for being transgendered. I brought up the macro because Haloti92 charged in angrily and brought up Matthew Shepard, talking about a "they" who "want" to use horrible murders to prove points. "We" don't need to look for horrible moments because these moments are real and are everywhere. An equivalent would be the Trayvon Martin case. Micro, you argue about if Zimmerman got off easy. Macro, the black community weeps, because the pain of centuries of feeling uneasy with the American justice system (which did indeed treat their lives as lesser and disposable) was still there. Is still there.

Not to get preachy (too late), but trying to explain. Micro, individual cases matter. Macro, they paint a picture. Macro, even if you remove this pixel here or that pixel there ("Shepard wasn't killed because he was gay!"), the pattern is still clear. The pattern persists unless you prove, in general, that most hate crime cases were sensationalized and had nothing to do with race/gender/sexual orientation/whatever.