Report: Fatal Anti-Transgender Violence in the U.S. in 2019

Produced by the HRC Foundation

In 2019, at least 25 transgender or gender non-conforming people were fatally shot or killed by other violent means.*

This is not a new problem. In the seven years that the Human Rights Campaign has tracked anti-transgender violence, an average of at least 22 transgender and gender non-conforming people have been victims of fatal violence per year.

We say “at least” because the stories detailed in this report very likely undercount the number of transgender and gender non-conforming people who were killed in the United States this year. Although advocates, bloggers and media groups have elevated the epidemic of violence against transgender and gender non-conforming people in the past several years, data collection is often incomplete or unreliable when it comes to violent and fatal crimes against transgender and gender non-conforming people. Some victims’ deaths may go unreported, while others may not be identified as transgender or gender non-conforming in the media, often because authorities, journalists and/or family members refuse to acknowledge their gender correctly.

In this report, we hope to shed light on several factors related to anti-transgender violence, many of which are drawn from our tracking of anti-transgender violence since 2013. We present statistics and analysis on demographics, legislation, safety, reporting and enforcement, revealing disturbing but important trends about violence against transgender and gender non-conforming people in the United States. Finally, based on these statistics, we provide action items that can help end the violence.

Fatal Anti-Transgender Violence in the U.S. in 2019

Download the full report here

HRC has been tracking reports of fatal anti-transgender violence for the past several years. Previous reports can be found: 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015.

*When this report was published in November 2019, HRC knew of at least 22 transgender and gender non-conforming people who were killed in the United States since the beginning of 2019.i


The Human Rights Campaign reports on news, events and resources of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation that are of interest to the general public and further our common mission to support the LGBTQ+ community.

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