Former Memphis Officer Pleads Guilty in Transgender Beating Case

Former Memphis Officer Pleads Guilty in Transgender Beating Case

Finally some justice for Duanna Johnson. Former Memphis police officer Bridges McRae admits to using excessive force against Johnson while booking her into the Shelby Co. Jail.

Mistrial Declared in Trial of Cop Who Beat Memphis Transgender Woman

Mistrial Declared in Trial of Memphis Cop Who Beat Transgender Prisoner

The trial for Bridges ‘Sutton’ McRae, a former Memphis police officer charged with beating a transgender prisoner Duanna Johnson ended in mistrial shortly after 2 p.m. today. A juror said later that the vote was 11 to 1 for conviction of McRae. The lone juror who voted for acquittal did not think the government had proved that McRae acted "willfully."

McRae was accused of beating the prisoner he identified as Dwayne Johnson on an arrest ticket, but who became upset when the officer would not use the female name, Duanna, during the fingerprint process in the jail sally port. A surveillance video of the incident showed McRae striking Johnson six times in the head with his metal handcuffs in his hand and then using pepper spray.

McRae said he was only trying to control a large, unruly prisoner and that the cuffs did not touch Johnson, but prosecutors said the officer was out of control and used them unnecessarily as a deadly weapon.

McRae was fired after the incident in the sally port in February of 2008. He was charged with civil rights violations and faced up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

The 43-year-old Johnson was shot to death later in 2008 on a street corner near her home. No one has been arrested.
Prosecutors say they plan to charge McRae again. He will stay free on his current bond.

A Vigil is planned Tuesday 6:30 PM downtown Memphis by the Memphis Gay & Lesbian Community Center

Grand Divisions: Justice Delayed Justice Denied to Juanna Johnson

Eyewitness News: Reactions to Judges Decision

Transgender Woman Murdered in Memphis

Commercial Appeal: Transgendered Abuse Victim Shot to Death

Pam's Houseblend as More

Transgender woman who was beaten by Memphis police found dead Sunday.
She was homeless and trying to move back to Chicago.
Kind of puts things in perspective..

RIP Duanna

Transgender Murder in Memphis

Memphis Police Investigate Transgender Homicide
(Memphis 7/1/08) Memphis homicide detectives are trying to unravel the city's latest murder mystery.

A body was found steps away from a daycare, an abandoned apartment complex and a strip club in Memphis. The victim is transgendered.

The victim's body was found early Tuesday morning in the 32-hundred block of Whitebrook Plaza in southeast Memphis.

Advocates say transgendered people tend to be targets of crime.

Jonathan Cole with the Tennessee Equality Project says, "Transgendered individual are often the victims of crime mainly because we know that people are homophobic or transphobic."

This follows a recent incident in which a Memphis Police Officer Attacked a Transgendered Person.

Brutal Trans-Bashing by Memphis Police Caught on Tape

Brutal Trans-Bashing by Memphis Police Caught on Tape


WMCTV-5 Has the Video and Story

TN Black Transwoman Makes DNC History

Tennessee Democrats elect first black transgender woman delegate to the Democratic National Convention!

Marisa Richmond is a Clinton delegate but says she would be happy with Obama. She is president of the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition and serves on the board of directors of the Tennessee Equality Project.

Congratulations to Marisa and the Tennessee Democratic Party!

ENDA: A tough choice

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would prohibt employment discriminaton based on sexual orientation and gender identity, has a good chance of passing in Congress, IF, gender identity is dropped. This is forcing LGBT rights activists and organziations to make a tough choice: Do we work to pass ENDA with gender identity and sexual orientation and it fail or get vetoed, or do we pass ENDA without gender identity have have a better chance of it passing and not getting vetoed? The National Gay & Lesbian Task Force and transgendered actitivists say NO WAY to excluding gender identity, while Rep. Barney Frank argues that we should go ahead and pass ENDA without gender identity and work on adding it later. Tough decision.