Renowned hairstylist-turned-reality star-turned-actor Miss Lawrence has a few questions about why the Black LGBTQ community continues to suffer violence, pointing to the excuses made by those threatening or perpetuating violence against Black queer, gay, and trans people.
“What was this person doing? Were they gay? Were they trying to trick a date? Were they trying to trick that man [or] pass as something else then got caught? That shouldn’t be the question,” Miss Lawrence said in an interview with ESSENCE. “The question is: why are we killing one another?”
Miss Lawrence also pointed to celebrities, who make homophobic jokes and the lack of accountability they face for their comments.
“When you have certain celebrities that will make irresponsible tweets about if their child was gay, they would beat their child, what you’re doing is inciting violence,” he explained of its impact. “Whether it’s physical or mental, you’re inciting violence and perpetuating this idea that it’s OK to dehumanize someone for being gay.”
Lawrence’s comments come after a number of Black transgender women were murdered, including two in Dallas. Chynal Lindsey’s body was recovered from White Rock Lake just weeks after the murder of Muhlaysia Booker. Booker was fatally shot just a month after being brutally assaulted by a group of men. The assault was captured on video and immediately went viral.
“Why are we not standing with one another?” Lawrence asked. “We have got to hold our allies accountable for not standing with us when these occurrences happen.”
