It’s … something.
The St. Petersburg Police Department is launching a new transgender sensitivity training program.
The training comes two months after a Tampa transgender woman’s murder, and law enforcement’s handling of it, captured national attention.
After 25-year-old India Clarke’s body was found in a Tampa park July 21, law enforcement identified her by the name and gender she was born with even though she had identified as female for years. Backlash from across the country followed, surfacing a discussion about how law enforcement handle the identities of transgender people.
We can’t have our friends and neighbors back. But, at the very least, we can have this little shard of decency, that we might wish the true selves of those we leave behind some manner of dignity in rest.
And we’ll take it, because that’s all we have left.
Her name was India Clarke. Please say it. Please, say her name.
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Image note: India Clarke, murdered 21 July 2015, in Tampa, Florida. Ms. Clarke’s death is recorded as the tenth murder of a transgendered person in 2015. On 29 July 2015 the Hillsborough County, Florida Sheriff’s Office arrested a suspect, Keith Lamayne Gaillard, and charged him with First Degree Murder with a Firearm.
Associated Press. “St. Pete Officers to be Trained on Transgender Issues”. WTVJ. 7 September 2015.
Holden, Dominic. “Transgender Woman Of Color Killed In Tampa, Florida”. BuzzFeed. 22 July 2015.
This Is 