Transgender Woman Murdered in Oakland. Nobody Cares.

[æonpax]

A murder occurred in Oakland early Sunday morning. As of this posting, there is exactly one -- count it -- one, article about the incident in the media, at least as measured by Google News hits for Oakland murder.

37-year-old Brandy Martell was sitting behind the wheel of her car around 5:15 a.m. at when one or two men walked up and began a conversation. A witness told ABC7 the conversation was cordial, but then.. one of the men became angry and fired into the car right where Martell was sitting.

"When you don't provide a space in society for people who you think are the other or different, especially transgender women, especially transgender women of color, when you don't provide spaces for them to be in a safe environment or a safe space, whether it's socializing or services, this is what happens," Martell's friend Tiffany Woods told ABC7. Source - http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/04/30/1087705/-Transgender-woman-murdered-in-Oakland-Nobody-Cares-
`

For those of you who actually will click on the source of this article and actually read the entire thing, it's not so much about a transgendered female being murdered but the lack of media coverage about it. The question is; should it have had more coverage?

In the news forum I got this from, that was the discussion. Most said that considering the fact that Oakland, California has a disproportionate amount of murders anyways, what makes it anymore special or different than the other? Does that fact that she is transgendered give it a higher priority or that she was a black and transgendered?


http://i.imgur.com/vqTVz.jpg


Sometimes, it just takes a little nudge for a story to spread. As of right now, 57 media outlets including a few nationals have picked it up. At least one, The San Francisco Gate, referring to this as a "hate crime" ( http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/05/04/BAOT1OD611.DTL&tsp=1 )

My Take - #1. The California LGBT is remarkably silent in this incident considering that I've seen them jump all over incidents involving gays and lesbians. #2. I can't shake the idea that no matter whom we are and what we are, we are all human and important, from the those considered to be the least to the rich and powerful. I will morn this person's passing not becuase she's female, transgendered or black but becuase she's a member of the community of humankind and no person deserves to have their life taken from them.

[Long Duck Dong]

any murder is tragic, a life is lost ..... but I think that the LGBT has milked the media cow far too much and now people are becoming desensitized to it.... so its just another shooting in a city with 110 killings a year and not something like matthew sheppard that is a headline grabber......

sure there should have been a mention of the event but not cos it was a trans person that was black, but cos it was a murder... and people have a right to know about what is happening in their city

as for the california LGBT being silent.... well, I am not sure how silent they are.... but I think that even the LGBT are becoming desensitized to the LGBT issues.... and starting to *fade away * into the backround..... rather than the community spirit that once existed..... its something that is happening in NZ, the fight for rights was won... and now the LGBT community is splintering and not the community it once was

[DuckiesDarling]

It is unfortunate that a life was lost and not much attention has been paid to it, but to be fair with the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman thing going full swing it got more attention as it was a black person shot by a non black person so they immediately labeled it a "hate" crime. The article you posted was interesting but it makes me curious, was the shooter black as well? Did he know the victim, had he met them and perhaps even had sexual relations with them and then found out they were trans? I'm not sure why just finding out they were trans if they hadn't been involved intimately would enrage anyone to the point of just shooting. I do hope they find the shooter and they do get sentenced for the murder and I do hope there is more coverage of the crime so we actually have details on what really happened rather than just someone saying no one cares cause she was a black transwoman.

[tenni]

I agree that it is sad and a tragedy when any life is taken so violently. Questions arise as to why these men were approaching her car. Why was she parked there?(a stop light?). Why did she engage in a conversation with strangers? No one has the right to take another person's life imo.

Then again, when I look at some US media coverage, I am disturbed by how TV particularly is covered so much with child murders or celebrity incidents & murders at the expense of political news and global news incidents. Which is really more important to people?

[DuckiesDarling]

Found this in the other link.. a bit more of a clue but still.. why shoot one and not the others?


The Alameda County medical examiner identified the victim as Milton Massey Jr. But Tiffany Woods, who worked with the victim for several years at the Tri-City Health Center in Fremont, said Massey identified as a woman and called herself Brandy Martell.
Before she was shot, Martell was with three other transgender women in the area of 13th and Franklin streets, a common gathering place for transgender women who feel unwelcome at bars and clubs nearby, Woods said.
Woods said witnesses had told her that Martell and the others were approached around 3 a.m. by two men who tried to persuade them to accompany them. Martell and her friends talked to the men for a while and told them they were transgender, after which the men left without incident, Woods said.
The men returned later, shot Martell and fled, Woods said. Police responded to the scene and found Martell dead in the car. No one else was injured, and no arrests have been made.
Woods said she believes Martell was probably attacked because of her gender identity.
The men "could have just said they weren't cool with it and walked away," Woods said. "But they decided to come back and engage in quick and violent confrontation. Did they do it because they were trans or because they were just there and easy marks? I think it was both."
Oakland police said they were investigating the homicide but did not respond to inquiries about whether they have classified it as a hate crime.
Woods runs TransVision, a resource program for transgender women at the Tri-City Health Center. Martell worked for her from 2007 until November as a peer advocate, leaving when the clinic's funding was cut, Woods said.
Many transgender women who gather in the area of downtown Oakland where Martell was killed engage in prostitution, but Martell never did, Woods said.

[_Joe_]

MSM doesn't care about the sexuality here...ok well it does, but it's not a big deal to them. The skin color is the other big deal.

This isn't money making news to them. And that's why I hate MSM.