The uncomfortable truth about ‘Black Trans Lives Matter’

Published June 11, 2020 7:15pm ET



Every so often amid the Black Lives Matter chants, you’ll hear someone interject that black trans lives are also important. If they’re not quickly muzzled, they might get an affirming tweet like the one from Democratic California Sen. Kamala Harris on June 3: “All Black Lives Matter — that includes Black trans women.”

That little boost of encouragement (Harris said nothing else on the subject) came after a video went viral on social media showing the horrific gang beating of Iyanna Dior, a young black transgender woman. In the video, Dior is seen smashed up against a cooler inside of a convenient store while multiple men pummel their fists on top of her head, face, and back, some of them pulling at her hair and clothes.

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