The Alliance For Full Acceptance (AFFA) released the following statement in response to Friday’s guilty verdict in the nation's first federal trial over a hate crime based on gender identity. Dime Doe, a black transgender woman from Allendale County, was brutally murdered in 2019. This case was the first time that the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 has been used to prosecute a gender-based crime.
“Justice has now been served in the horrific murder of Dime Doe. This is justice for Dime, justice for Dime’s family and friends, and justice for the South Carolina trans community as a whole. The guilty verdict in this landmark case sends a clear message that violence against the LGBTQ+ community— and more specifically the trans community— can and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said AFFA Executive Director Chase Glenn. “This is also yet another reminder that our South Carolina legislature continues to fail the citizenry by not passing a hate crime bill in our state. While we are grateful to have the federal hate crime act to fall back on, South Carolina should have a law on the books that acknowledges the individual and communal impact of hate-motivated violence against minority communities. Now is the time to pass a hate crime law in South Carolina.”
Over the past few years, there has been a notable increase in assaults targeting the LGBTQ+ community. Transgender women of color, in particular, have experienced alarmingly elevated levels of violence and discrimination, as highlighted by the Department of Homeland Security. In 2022, there was a 37% rise in gender identity-related hate crimes reported by the FBI compared to the preceding year.
