After the brutal murders of trans women India Clarke and KC Haggard in America last week — bringing the number of trans women killed in the US this year to 11 — actress and model Hari Nef has taken to social media to speak out against the violence faced by trans women and trans women of colour in particular.
people want to celebrate some #moment for the 10-25 trans folks visible in the media yet violence against trans women is up 13% from 2013
— hari nef (@harinef) July 22, 2015
Acknowledging her own success, and that of white trans celebrities like Caitlyn Jenner, Nef tweeted, “I’m handed opportunities in 2015 as a white trans woman,” but qualified this cause for celebration with the sad fact that, “9 have been slain in the u.s. in 2015 because they were trans women of color”. “There’s a violent + blatant discrepancy between the way white trans women and trans women of color are treated in the united states,” Nef continued, adding that “my (trans) career is going well right now while other trans women are dying! give all of us a platform and not just the lucky girls”.
Nef also posted a long statement on Instagram, explaining that, “I feel like a lot of people think transness is glam right now but actually there is a war going on and we are dying more quickly than we can ‘trailblaze’.” Nef concludes that, “we are in a state of emergency | so how about we stop killing trans people especially trans women especially trans women of color,” using the hashtag #sayhername in reference to the misgendering of murdered trans women in the media.
Mainstream acceptance of the Transgender narrative into popular culture is not protecting these women. Visibility is not a magic trick
— mykki blanco (@MykkiBlanco) July 25, 2015
Let’s contextualize #IAmCait‘s premiere by centering violence facing trans women http://t.co/S4TT4OeyIP #girlslikeus pic.twitter.com/5PqS9ePTrm
— Janet Mock (@janetmock) July 26, 2015
In reaction to news coverage of her statements, Nef has pointed out that there are many trans women of colour who they should also be paying attention to. “I’m not ungrateful for the press about yesterday’s tweets,” she said, “but i feel like janet [mock], laverne [cox] & others are way more deserving of that space”. Nef later retweeted thoughts from both Mykki Blanco and Janet Mock, above, on violence against trans women.