In late February, a transgender bar in Las Vegas was attacked, adding to the gun violence that has happened these past few months. It was obviously a hate crime, as the windows of the bar itself were blacked out, and painted over with the stripes of the transgender flag. There was no way that the shooter was able to tell who was inside. All they knew is that the patrons inside were most likely transgender women and men.

The unidentified shooter shot two bullets through the windows in the early morning of February 23rd. One of those bullets hit African American transgender woman Callie Lou-Bee Haywood’s leg and she was rushed to the hospital. It is reported there was one more injury, but the name has not been released.

It seems like it wouldn’t be a big deal, with only 2 injuries and no deaths, but with the current gun violence issues, and this being a crime of transphobia and hatred, you would think it would get more media attention.

The lack of media attention is one of the most concerning parts of this incident. If it had been a shooting at any other bar, with white and cisgendered people getting injured, the media would have jumped on this story, as it could help forward an agenda of gun control.

In all, there have only been a few articles about what happened. And the few articles that were written were not by major news organizations, only local newspapers or LGBT online papers, with some of them only having 50 words or less.

The fact that a major hate crime against the transgender community happened, involving a gun, and it didn’t get any media attention is very concerning. It also shows us that we need to pay more attention to the LGBT community and understand that hate crimes are not over.

To learn more about what happened check out these articles :

https://intomore.com/impact/A-Las-Vegas-Trans-Bar-Was-The-Target-Of-A-Shooting-Over-The-Weekend/61ee5959fda1435b

https://www.dailydot.com/irl/transgender-bar-shooting-media/