In the past 10 days, the LGBT community has had to confront the loss of another of its own, Kyra Cordova, who was shot early on Labor Day in a wooded area in Frankford. While the community is rightfully pressing law enforcement to bring Cordova’s murderer to justice, the muddled details surrounding the crime are an ill tribute to her full life.
When Cordova’s body was found, police told the handful of media who covered the case that the victim was a man dressed in women’s clothing. Cordova was not found with a cell phone or identification on her at the time, understandably making the identification process more challenging for law enforcement. However, the concept that the victim may have indeed been a transgender woman, and not a man in a dress, should have been evident — or at least occurred — to the responding officers and the police officials dispersing this information to media.
While awareness-building around LGBT issues among the police force has been enhanced in recent years, largely through the work of the city’s Police Liaison Committee, there is obviously more work to be done. Officers in the field need to be attuned enough to the existence of the transgender community to accurately report the details of a crime scene. Even though the victim could not be immediately identified, the potential that the victim was indeed a woman should have been understood and respected by law enforcement. As news outlets rely on these reports as the basis for factual news stories, it is imperative that the information is both complete and correct.
While the news stories elicited little attention in the beginning, once the victim was brought out of anonymity, the transgender and ally community was angry, and rightfully so. No longer was the victim a nameless, faceless person in the woods, but instead a known, respected and active community member whose identity deserved more than the police’s ascription.
Such an act of violence is bound to generate a powerful reaction from Cordova’s family, friends and community, and that has been amplified by having to overcome miscategorization, offensive language and insensitivity from law enforcement. While the LGBT sensitivity training that most new officers undergo is commendable, the true impacts and lessons of insensitivity can best be seen in real cases such as Cordova’s. Law enforcement needs the public to collaborate to bring Cordova’s killer to justice and, in turn, the public deserves the confidence that police truly know who the victim is — and who they are charged to protect and defend.