2021 deadliest year for transgender people recorded

This year has been the deadliest on record for transgender people, according to a statement released by the LGBT advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). 

Forty-seven transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals have been fatally shot or have died by violent means in 2021, according to the group. The HRC has been recording violence against the transgender community since 2013. 

In 2020, the group recorded 44 deaths of transgender or gender-nonconforming people. 

Many of the deaths have occurred among the Black transgender community — specifically among Black transgender women, according to the report from the HRC. 

According to NBC News, a disproportionate percentage of fatal violence against transgender people has been recorded in the Southeast region of the U.S. as many Southern states have increasingly rolled out legislation targeting transgender youth. 

Several states have introduced or passed legislation that would prevent transgender girls from participating in sports teams that match their gender identity. In addition, some states have passed legislation that would ban the use of gender confirmation treatments for transgender youth such as puberty blockers. 

Brendan Lantz, an assistant professor of criminology and criminal justice at Florida State University, told NBC News that fatal violence against the transgender community also has a lower clearance rate for arrests or court prosecution connected to the cases.

The clearance rate for fatal anti-trans violence is reportedly around 44 percent, while the national average falls between 60 percent and 70 percent. according to data compiled by Lantz.