ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — ABC Action News continues to tell stories for Pride Month that highlight people in the community whose voices are not always heard or considered.
For many, the closest they might get to learning about some in the transgender community is through a newspaper headline or broadcast report about crimes and violence the LGBTQ+ communities have to deal with. A quick Google search pulls up terrifying reports of murder and violence.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, at least "17 transgender and gender-expansive people whose lives were tragically and inhumanely taken through violent means, including gun and intimate partner violence, in 2024."
The non-profit explains why that number is often egregiously low, "because these stories go unreported — or misreported too often. In previous years, the majority of these people were Black and Latine transgender women."
In 2023, Equality Florida issued a travel advisory warning members of the LGBTQ+ community not to move to or visit Florida for safety concerns.
According to a recent report by SafeHome.org, Florida ranked as the second worst state in the country for LGBTQ+ safety. Because of our high number of discriminatory laws and hate crime reporting rates," the organization posted online.
The report gave Florida an "F," citing Florida's so-called Don't Say Gay law.
It goes on to cite, "Additional anti-equality legislation on Florida's books includes sodomy laws and laws that allow or require intentional misgendering of public school students. In 2023, Governor Ron Desantis signed a bill into law that limited drag shows in the state, which a Florida federal judge later blocked."
"This isn't just a transgender issue…this is a humanity issue," Jakob Hero-Shaw told ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska.
Hero-Shaw is a transgender man and reverend at Metropolitan Community Church of Tampa.
"When people see me in my (clergy) collar, they make a lot of assumptions, that I'm homophobic, that I'm transphobic, that I'm politically conservative, all of these things that are not accurate to who I am," Hero-Shaw said. "I would say, me being a trans person isn't a huge part of who we are as a church other than just that we accept everybody. My journey as a trans person made me more compassionate. It made me more confident in who I am. And makes me better at pastoral care."
Hero-Shaw is hopeful that one day, the violence and hate towards his lifestyle won't be something the LGBTQ+ community faces. He sees a world where acceptance and understanding will overtake hate and violence.
"It's hard to be a trans person, and it's hard to be a trans person when people who don't even understand what a transperson is are debating our right to exist, and that is what I find dehumanizing," Hero-Shaw said. "If they could just interact with us and meet someone, they would find out I am not that different."
For more information on the local non-profit you can go to MyTransNetwork.org.
