Another black trans death in custody

[MarieDelta]

Demand ensues for open investigation into an Aboriginal trans death in custody in Sydney, writes Rachel Evans.

On March 10, 2009, three days after the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, 34-year-old Veronica Baxter was arrested by Redfern police. She was charged with six counts of supplying a prohibited drug and held on remand at the all-male NSW Silverwater Metropolitan Reception and Remand Centre.

Despite being a trans woman, she was placed in the maximum-security jail for men. Six days later, after a 14-hour break between checking her cell, she was found dead, hanging in her single cell.

Baxter was an Aboriginal woman from the Cunnamulla country, south- west of Queensland. She dressed, appeared, and had identified as a woman for 15 years and was known by family and friends as a woman.

Yet she was placed in a male jail against NSW government policy, which states that trans people be placed in the jail of their choosing.


http://www.thescavenger.net/glbsgdq/another-black-trans-death-in-custody-36578.html

RIP...

[DareMe]

http://www.thescavenger.net/glbsgdq/another-black-trans-death-in-custody-36578.html

RIP...


This story is so sad.

What makes it deplorable is that it could and should have been prevented.

DM

[TwylaTwobits]

OMG, that is sad, made even more sad by having a policy in place and the police not following it.

[Cherokee_Mountaincat]

Just another case of Transphobic idioticy..:disgust:
RIP Girlfriend..
Cat

[csrakate]

It seems Aussies practice the same kind of equal rights that NZ's LDD preaches. What a shame we treat people this way.

Please don't hijack this thread with your pettiness...give this thread the respect it demands by leaving your personal agenda at the door. You are right that it is a shame that people are treated this way...but taking another swipe at LDD in this thread is wrong.

[onewhocares]

It is tragic and extremely sad that another human has given their lives as a result of the ignorance of others. When will people realize that when we let one life slip away then we to loose a part of our own lives. My heart is saddened for such a senseless death.

Belle

[Long Duck Dong]

unfortunately the treatment of aboriginals in australia is not very good... in some parts they are still not allowed in pubs....

its a shame as they are a beautiful race of people, but its not uncommon for any aboriginal to be ill treated in prison
too many deaths in prison (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aboriginal_deaths_in_custody)

she go walkabout long time in dreamtime ( walkabout is the term they use for traveling long distances and going where they are guided and dreamtime is the term for death )

[rissababynta]

Oh,. but it's ok for him to take swipes at me?

Sorry you don't like my free speech. I'm entitled to it and I wasn't trying to hijack this thread - just pointing out the truth.

What are you fucking 10? Cause his little "swipes" were really that big of a deal? Like you didn't start shit out by saying worse? HE got over it, are you really that small of a person where you can't? Booooo to petty little shits.

Iggy iggy iggy

Anyways, this is very very sad. If the law states that she should have been put in the womens cell, then that is what should have happened. Those people should be sued to the max.

What a shame that so many people in the world end up dying when it is soo unecessary and can be prevented...

[darkeyes]

Oh,. but it's ok for him to take swipes at me?

Sorry you don't like my free speech. I'm entitled to it and I wasn't trying to hijack this thread - just pointing out the truth.

..and just where on this thread did he do that? Fight your battles where appropriate.. its doing that where it isn't appropriate which marks you out as petty..

...and having free speech brings with it responsibilities.. and one responsibility is not to bring a battle from another thread and try and mess up this one..

This thread is about an appalling death of a human being and people care about such things.. if you truly care then keep your petty vindictiveness either to yourself or the proper place...

Sorry Marie.. some people have no tact and very little sense of tragedy...

[12voltman59]

You almost have to wonder----did the authorities almost figure that if they put Rachel in that lockup----someone would "take care of it" and kill her???

Or-was it just bureaucratic blindness that looks at the person's listed gender----"well you say your're a woman mate, you look like one to me, but it says here your're a man--sorry--you go in the male prison---good luck and have fun in there mate!"

Either way----even though Rachel was killed by some thugs--her murder was set up by a cold, indifferent and hostlie Australian government.

[TwylaTwobits]

Sighs... I have someone on ignore so I don't have to see the petty crap, but since people copied him I'll answer his charge. BiCd4u, you are on ignore so I won't see your answer, don't bother. Just remember that you are acting like a 2 year old who's twin stole his lollipop and 30 years later are still demanding an apology or him to be to spanked. Give it up, you can't be that petty that someone telling you to stop being an ass ranks higher than any other issue on this board including the tragedy that is the reason for this post.

Sorry, Marie, walks off shaking head at the inability of some people to see past their fucking reflection for two seconds........

[Long Duck Dong]

unfortunately volty, thats true..... my step brother is a cop in australia so he has seen how the aboriginals got treated ... he works a remote area with a high aboriginal population and one of the first things he did, was go out into the bush and send a week with the elders, talking with them and addressing a number of issues....

what he does now, is when the younger ones get drunk, he rounds them up, puts them in a cell to sober up, and takes them back out to the elders for a lil abbo justice.... rather than charge them and leave them in a cell for 4-5 days til court....
aboriginal justice is swift and unpleasant, but it works... and yes, its safer for the aboriginals, as a number of them will just curl up and die in prison....
its like the moment you close the cell door, they loose the will to live....

but nor will I deny the fact that the treatment of the aboriginals is shocking
there was a case that arose about a white man that was a old timer, that drove into town one day and a aboriginal bloke walked into him by accident.... the old timer went back to his ute, got a rifle and went and shot the aboriginal.... the cops turned up, and the old timer argued that he was within his rights to shoot the aboriginal.... he even had the old license that permitted a person to shoot and kill aboriginals..... a license to hunt humans...
of course it was immediately taken off him, but cos the old law had never been revoked, the cops didn't have a leg to stand on......

[12voltman59]

but nor will I deny the fact that the treatment of the aboriginals is shocking
there was a case that arose about a white man that was a old timer, that drove into town one day and a aboriginal bloke walked into him by accident.... the old timer went back to his ute, got a rifle and went and shot the aboriginal.... the cops turned up, and the old timer argued that he was within his rights to shoot the aboriginal.... he even had the old license that permitted a person to shoot and kill aboriginals..... a license to hunt humans...
of course it was immediately taken off him, but cos the old law had never been revoked, the cops didn't have a leg to stand on......

No SHIT???? That is some seriously fucked up shit!!!!! Hope they corrected that situation and got that law off the books!!!

[Canticle]

Human inhumanity against human, When will it stop. When will the dominant species upon the planet, evolve to that very high level and respect others, of it's kind

[boredtrucker]

not to play devils advocate here, as a former cop, to me the death cant be determined as a murder based on what that article says.. she was in an all male jail, but the article says that trans inmates are allowed to pick which jail they are locked up in( there is no info stating whether or not she picked that jail). also in general, and i stress in general,death by hanging while in custody is usually suicide, not murder. again there are no details given in the article to point one way or the other. maybe, just maybe,folks ought to let the investigation run its course before jumping to conclusions.... just my humble little opinion

[darkeyes]

Human inhumanity against human, When will it stop. When will the dominant species upon the planet, evolve to that very high level and respect others, of it's kind

Some of us are working toward it and believe in it Canticle.. sadly all to many don't believe we will ever evolve sufficiently to get there.. if I didn't believe them wrong, I would save me breathe, go back to bed and wait for the end to come..

[Delilah]

Until a thorough investigation is completed, we can't jump the gun. Look at the circumstance of her crime. I'm not saying she deserve it if it was murder or suicide. I wonder how many people involved in this crime she commited. Can one of them made sure she doesn't talk to turn others in, could it be one of the inmate because of hate towards transgendered people, or did she kill herself knowing that this time she will be spending a lot of years behind bar because she may have history with this type of crime.
So many speculation and I hope they do a thorough investigations.