Kandis Capri was murdered last week. This added her to the list of trans women of color being brutally destroyed at a rate that continues to increase.

This calendar year is far from over and we have already passed the number of hate-fueled murders of trans women from last year.

What we don’t know is how accurate any of these numbers really are. The statistics say there were a dozen trans women murdered last year, and in 2015 we already have 20. These are the known murders of trans women and many more may be tangled in the system by the names on their driver licenses, the name at the top of the report, the failure of some families to accept who their children are, and until recently the limited ability of most news sources to know how to approach the subject. These issues need to be addressed to bring this violence into view.

Kandis Capri was loved by many people. At the vigil held this past Wednesday in Phoenix, there was an incredible mix of humanity there to attest to that love. There were  lots of little kids who adored her playfulness and friendship, buddies from childhood who had accepted the change from Dedrick to Kandis and only spoke lovingly of how Kandis remodeled the GI Joe they played with in their youth. There were members of the gay and trans youth groups showing respect and asking how to keep themselves safe. But most of all there was Adrias Gaines, Kandis' mother, who had the grace and strength to stand up and talk about the importance of love. 

Monica Jones served as the MC at this event. Her prostitution arrest garnered media attention as being only a case of “walking while trans.” Monica, who is studying social work at ASU, has stepped forward as a community activist. This is a mantle she wears well and her sincerity was beautiful. 

It is really easy to read about a murder in the paper and then never think of it again. It is easy to say that someone was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Violence is so much a part of the American cultural experience that we consider it entertainment. We stop and mourn when someone famous dies or when the event is spectacular. Something is innately wrong with this scene.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement yesterday made public a new memorandum that says the agency will start housing transgender immigrants in the detention facilities that match their gender identity.

We very often see transgender women in male detention centers, even though taking notice of a person's gender identity is something ICE should have already been doing. According to several reports, even though one in 500 detainees is transgender, one in five has been sexually assaulted. (We have a case like that close to home.)

In the memo, dated June 19, ICE explains how to determine a detainee's gender identity, and based on that send them to the detention facility of the gender they identify with. ICE employees will be given coaching on what questions to ask and how to appropriately fill out documents—For instance, knowing the difference between sex assigned at birth and gender identity. There will also be a data base where a person's gender identity will be updated for legal records. 

DHS says the memo follows a report from a group that took an in-depth look at these issues over the course of six months with experts of the subject. The agency also sought input from transgender individuals, "and visited various non-federal facilities across the country to observe best practices."

Advocacy groups such as the Transgender Law Center and Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement, who are part of the #Not1More campaign, argue the changes aren't enough and LGBT immigrants should be released from detention, period. "A guidance document cannot be expected to change the fact that DHS and ICE have consistently failed at maintaining a minimum of safety and dignity for transgender immigrants," the groups say in a statement. 

A march in Phoenix to mark the anniversary of the anti-immigrant law SB 1070 will also be a celebration for the release of Nicoll  Hernández-Polanco, a Guatemalan transgender woman who was given asylum in the U.S. yesterday. She had been apprehended at all-male detention facility for the past six months.

Nicoll's case is one of many the Transgender Law Center has helped put at the forefront of the demand to stop detaining LGBTQ immigrants—several groups have asked the federal government to classify transgender asylum seekers like Nicoll as a "vulnerable group," meaning very likely to endure abuse in detention, as was Nicoll's case. 

While in the Florence immigration detention center, Nicoll was sexually assaulted by a detainee, physically and emotionally abused by guards and, during the first few weeks there, forced to shower with men.

From a Transgender Law Center statement:

The transgender and queer migrant community of Arizona and the nation celebrates Nicoll Hernandez-Polanco’s release. This victory was won by tireless hours of work from community members and Nicoll’s legal team. The #FreeNicoll campaign involved Mariposas Sin Fronteras, Arcoíris Liberation Team, Arizona Queer Undocumented Immigrant Project, Transgender Law Center, Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement, Queer Detainee Empowerment Project, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, and many others. Nicoll is ecstatic to be free and excited for the support she received.

Today Nicoll is free and her community marches for an ICE Free Arizona on the anniversary of the infamous anti-immigrant law SB1070 demanding that ICE and DHS immediately halt all detention and deportation of LGBTQ immigrants. Unfortunately, Nicoll’s experience is all too typical. While trans women make up only 1 out of every 500 people detained by ICE, they are a shocking 1 out of every 5 substantiated cases of sexual assault in detention. ICE has demonstrated over and over that they are incapable of detaining LGBTQ immigrants with even minimal levels of dignity and safety. As Nicoll states “LGBTQ people deserve respect and do not belong in ICE detention.”

Other organizers of today's march are Tucson's Mariposas Sin Fronteras, Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement, the Phoenix-based Arcoíris Liberation Team and AZ QUIP. 

The rally begins at 3 p.m. near the horse statue at the state Capitol. 

I've been a fan of the Florida punk act Against Me! for some time, so the last few years since frontwoman Laura Jane Grace came out as transgender in a Rolling Stone article in 2012 have been an interesting look at how an artist evolves, including the band's latest album Transgender Dysphoria Blues which discussed her longtime struggle with gender dysphoria.

Continuing that discussion, Grace is starring in a ten part documentary series for AOL (which is still a thing, I guess) called True Trans With Laura Jane Grace, debuting on October 10, in which she travels the country talking to fellow transgender men and women about the reality of their own lives. Based on the trailer (above), it seems like it should be a fascinating series.

You can watch another preview of the show (and subscribe to the series, I guess?) at AOL.

The U.S. Postal Service unveiled its latest stamp featuring the first openly gay elected official in the United States, Harvey Milk. The forever stamp will feature Daniel Nicoletta's photo of Milk in front his camera store in San Francisco, and the colors of the gay pride flag in a vertical strip on the top left corner. The stamp will be available for purchase on (his Birthday) Harvey Milk Day, May 22.

In honor of the commemorative stamp and Harvey Milk Day, The Milk Foundation and the Tucson LGBT Freedom Day Parade Committee are hosting Tucson's inaugural Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast from 8 to 11 a.m. Wednesday, May 14, at the Hotel Tucson City Center InnSuites Conference Suite Resort, 475 N. Granada. The key note speaker will be Harvey's nephew and Co-Founder of the Harvey Milk Foundation, Stuart Milk.

Click here to RSVP and here to pre-order the stamp.

Today at 4 p.m. (Thursday, April 10), the Sex Worker Outreach Project (SWOP) will hold a rally in front of the Tucson Police Department headquarters, 270 S. Stone, "to demand justice and show support for Monica Jones, a student in the ASU School of Social Work who currently awaits trial after being profiled and falsely arrested through a prostitution diversion program called Project Rose."

From SWOP:

Arizona has some of the most severe prostitution laws in the country. These laws rely heavily on the criminalization of vague activities like waving at cars, talking to passers-by, inquiring if someone is a police officer, and regularly violate the human and civil rights of those targeted. Thursday’s action is part of a nation-wide effort to raise awareness of the disproportionate impact of police action on our most vulnerable communities, including transgender people, women of color, poor people, and immigrants.

Since refusing to plead guilty to the charges she is innocent of, Ms. Jones has been targeted four additional times by police officers while walking around her neighborhood and carrying out everyday activities such as bringing groceries home or heading to her local bar. Every encounter with the police includes insults, transphobic language, and threats of arrest. Across Arizona and throughout the U.S., transgender people of color are routinely targeted for harassment and hate-motivated violence by police and the public, and are frequently profiled as sex workers by law enforcement. Incarcerated transgender people also receive the harshest and most violent treatment by other inmates and prison guards.

STAND WITH MONICA will dispel stigmatizing myths about sex workers, expose the devastating impact of diversion programs like Project Rose, and provide more information about how to support Monica Jones as she continues her fight for justice.

Fitting in with the general theme of equality today, an Oregon High School has taken steps to ensure comfort for their students in one of the few places all of modern society agrees people should have comfortable access to by creating unisex bathrooms.

From the Advocate:

The unisex facilities were converted into two faculty bathrooms and four student bathrooms, with locks on the inside, according to ABC News. Previously, students who did not want to use the traditional restrooms had to request a key to a staff facilities.

According to student-run Grant Magazine, there are about 10 openly transgender students in the city's largest high school, with 1,600 students.

Scott Morrison, a male-identified senior, said he previously avoided drinking liquids throughout the day, just so he wouldn't have to go to the bathroom.

"If I had to drink something, I’d go into the women’s bathroom. I would rather feel kind of unpleasant (in there) than terrified in the men’s bathroom," he said in the report.

According to ABC News, the school's vice principal said that the change cost the school "a few hundred dollars":

"The only reaction I've heard there has been positive," she said. "We have a pretty accepting school system."

When asked whether she was surprised by all of the national attention the new bathrooms were receiving, Westphal laughed.

"It is kind of funny because it's such a simple thing," she said. "It was very simple to do, and it's something as pretty basic as a human right."

Big news from Wingspan: Tucson and Southern Arizona's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community center has named Carol Grimsby to be their new Executive Director.

From Wingspan:

“This is a milestone in Wingspan’s development,” said Kara
Jones, Wingspan’s Board President. For three years,
Wingspan’s Board has been operated by program staff and
volunteers without an Executive Director. Now, after a national
search, Grimsby, who has 20 years of corporate and non-profit
management experience, has been named by the
Wingspan Board to the position.

...

“Carol’s leadership skills, experience in program management,
administration and development matches the demands
needed to move Wingspan to its next level. The staff, board,
and volunteers look forward to working with her.”