"I was born here, but my culture, my roots, and everything it's for me it's even disturbing when I'm around like a gay person or somebody bi or transsexual or something," David Bogdanov told an officer."So for me it's just very disturbing and disgusting when people are like this."
Zoe Spears and Ashanti Carmon were both sex workers who frequented Eastern Avenue, a well-known stroll near Washington, D.C. In the early-morning hours of March 30, 2019, according to an eye-witness account, the two were on a date together when a man in a white car pulled up. After threatening Carmon, he shot her in front of Spears.
Jaheim"Bella" Pugh, 19, was tough to miss the night she was shot at a crowded party, dressed in a shiny rainbow jumpsuit, glittery eyeshadow, and a long, curly wig. Two years later, no one has been arrested for Pugh's murder. Since then, police departments across the country sought to mend the distrust by appointing LGBTQ liaisons. But for many of them, the work was simply piled on top of their already heavy caseload. And despite new sensitivity guidance at many police departments, problems persist: When Insider examined 175 homicides of transgender people from 2017 to 2021, nearly two-thirds were misgendered or misnamed by the police.