It probably is no surprise that Latinos are targeted and profiled by the police, often making our community the victims of police abuse and brutality. With just a few days before November 20th, Transgender Remembrance Day, a day honoring those who have been killed as a result of prejudice, it’s also a good time to take note at how pervasive police abuse against our transgender brothers and sisters really is.

Many people think of New York City’s Greenwich Village as liberal and open minded, yet it was in broad daylight in the Village earlier this year that 20-year-old Maria Lopez was sexually harassed and arrested for loitering by the New York City Police Department while she waited for a bus.

Maria Lopez was catcalled, had her genitals and breasts “accidentally” brushed against and was examined medically in the correctional facility in front of 20 male officers. Sadly her story was just one of 23 New York City incidents heard by Amnesty International in September, who also released an 11 page report on police misconduct and abuse against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Maria and others blame the problems poor police oversight and training. Another perspective is that police, as a whole, is a racist, sexist institution. Looking at the bigger picture, it’s easy to see that there is still so much miseducation out there about the Transgender community. Eleven percent of the 810 documented LGBT crime victims in New York City in 2003 were transgender women, even though they are estimated to be just 1 to 2 percent of the overall LGBT population, according to the Washington-based National Coalition of Anti-Violence Program. In addition, consider the fact that most hate crimes against the trans community aren’t even documented. Sometimes this is because of fear on the part of the victim, other times it is because of weak hate crimes laws.

With Transgender Remembrance Day around the corner we should all make a commitment to protect the human rights of all people and take that extra step to educate ourselves about what that means and do it, not once a year but every single day, just like Trans community of color faces abuse every single day.

Via / Women’s E News