Equality Florida Calls on Governor Scott to act on Trans Murders

Equality Florida, a political advocacy group, is calling on Governor Rick Scott to act on the rise of Transgender murders that Florida has seen this year. Orlando and Jacksonville have been at the center of transgender African-American women being killed, and the group released an "action alert" detailing the group's concerns.

The email commented that "Last week, we received heartbreaking news that Sasha Garden from Orlando became the fourth known transgender woman of color murdered in Florida this year. Sasha’s death follows the murders of three black trans women in Jacksonville: Celine Walker, Antash'a English, and Cathalina Christina James. Alarmingly, their murders represent over 25% of the known anti-transgender murders in the entire nation this year."

It adds that "The rate of murderous violence towards Florida’s transgender community is terrifying and needs to be addressed. Yet, Governor Rick Scott has remained notably quiet as the number of killings continues to mount."

Finally, they argue that "We need Governor Scott to speak out – clearly and immediately – to condemn this pattern of violence targeting transgender women and direct state law enforcement agencies to assist in the investigations."

In response to the issue at hand, Governor Scott commented that "You hate when anything like this happens, and I hope whoever did it is caught and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”