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Sep. 27, 2013 at 6:36pm with 136 notes

Action Required: Ask Susan Epstein to Respect Eyricka Morgan’s Identity + Life

Today, I sent the following email to Susan Epstein of the The Star-Ledger about her report of the murder of Eyricka Morgan, a young trans woman of color who was murdered in her boarding home.

I’m heartbroken about the death of someone I knew, and shocked by the fact that Ms. Epstein chooses to carelessly erase Eyricka’s identity as a woman and her life as well, telling our community that she needs confirmation or proof that Eyricka was a trans woman.

Please email (sepstein@starledger.com), tweet @susan_epstein or call the reporter at (732) 249-5670 about misgendering Eyricka Morgan in @starledger. The point of this action is not to vilify Ms. Epstein, it’s to set the record straight on our lives.

Feel free to use my email as a template:

Hi Susan,

I will go on record, as an activist who knew the victim, Eyricka Morgan. She was a transgender woman of color and an advocate in the community. She went by she and her, and her identity should be respected even after her passing, despite what records may or may not say.

As a journalist who worked for mainstream media (I previously worked for People.com), I know that reflecting the truth of people’s lives is vital. The misgendering and erasure of Ms. Morgan’s identity does not only hurt her life and legacy, it also hurts an entire community of marginalized and often stigmatized people who are grappling with discrimination on many levels in our country.

http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ssf/2013/09/new_brunswick_man_charged_with_stabbing_man_to_death_in_city_boarding_house.html

Please fix this careless error and stop requiring that our lives need proof. We are who we say we are.

Thanks,

Janet Mock