Marlow White, 51, filed a lawsuit against the NYPD after they allegedly ignored his multiple attempts to report a hate crime. White says they are discriminating because of his gender identity, transgender, and have failed to arrest the man who has repeatedly threatened and harassed him and his family. Napoleon Monroe, boyfriend of White's neighbor Ana Amezquita, had been "growing agitated" after an awkward first meeting. A month and a half later, White received a series of texts from Amezquita's phone that were written by Monroe, reading things like "I just slapped Ana!" "Come protect her! I'll cut your f*cking head off lil man." Two days later, after White reported these threats, Monroe ran into White's partner, Nathalie Lewis in the hallway, and began to say things like "I'm gonna f*ck you and your transsexual man up!" The yelling drew attention from the neighbors, some who called 911. When the NYPD showed up, Lewis began to explain that Monroe had targeted their family because White was transgender. At this, the officers "expressed obvious distaste for [White], their entire demeanor changed and they became completely uncooperative," the lawsuit states. One of the neighbors reportedly asked "So let me get this straight: you’re not gonna take a report from any of us? And you’re gonna leave here and wait 'til somebody gets killed or murdered, and then you’ll come back later to pick up the pieces?" To which one officer replied, "That sounds about right." After the whole altercation, White and Lewis have continually tried to report Monroe to the police for harassment and stalking, with no luck. Police continued to turn down their reports.
White isn't the only one experiencing difficulty trying to report a hate crime to the police. All across the country, transgendered men and women are constantly discriminated against because of their gender identity. According hrc.org, at there have been at least 19 trans people murdered so far this year, with at least 13 of them trans women. Most trans victims are black or hispanic, out of 13 trans women murdered in 2014, only one wasn't. Most of their cases remain unsolved. You hardly hear about all of these murders from the media, and when you do, they often misgender or dead name the victim. The numbers of trans murders continues to rise each year, unnoticed or ignored. All people, no matter what gender identity or sexuality, deserves the same human rights. We've taken steps to equality for all, especially in the LGBT+ community, but the Supreme Court ruling gay marriage legal is NOT enough to end the violence. White, and thousands of other transgender individuals do not deserve constant harassment and discrimination because of who they are.
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