A growing awareness of violence against LGBTQ + individuals has led to an increase in media coverage of the homicides of trans people in the United States. Media accounts involve powerful narratives which are subjective, biased, and imbued with meaning. These narratives employ “frames” that impact public perception of populations. Studies have demonstrated differences in the ways that trans victims of homicide are framed compared to cis victims, specifically regarding responsibility for the violence inflicted upon them. Trans victims are more likely to be constructed as “deviants” or criminals who are deserving of or responsible for their own homicides. In addition, these victims are framed as deceivers who deliberately obscure their gender modality from offenders, thus facilitating violent retaliation. The present study employs a mixed methods approach to analyze articles published in news media outlets about the twenty-six trans people killed in 2018. Our analysis identified more positive frames than negative frames employed by agents of social control, such as media and law enforcement, that inform narratives surrounding this unique form of violence. Yet, efforts still need to be undertaken to involve trans voices, to humanize those who have lost their lives, and most importantly, to prevent this violence. This article discusses implications for how these organizations can begin to transform these narratives to describe accurately trans victims of homicide.

对针对LGBTQ +个人的暴力行为的意识与日俱增，导致媒体对美国跨性别者凶杀案的报道有所增加。媒体报道涉及强有力的叙述，这些叙述具有主观性，偏见性和意义。这些叙述采用的“框架”会影响公众对人口的看法。研究表明，与顺式受害者相比，跨性别杀人行为的受害者在构架方式上存在差异，特别是在对施加于他们的暴力行为的责任上。跨性别受害者更有可能被当成“背叛者”或应为自己的杀人罪负责的罪犯。此外，这些受害者被陷害为欺骗者故意掩盖罪犯的性别形态，从而助长了暴力报复行为。本研究采用一种混合方法方法来分析新闻媒体上发表的有关2018年被杀死的26个跨性别者的文章。我们的分析发现，社会控制机构（例如媒体和执法机构）采用的积极框架要多于消极框架，从而为围绕这种独特暴力形式的叙述提供了信息。但是，仍然需要努力使跨性别者参与进来，使失去生命的人道化，最重要的是防止这种暴力行为。本文讨论了对这些组织如何开始转变这些叙述以准确描述凶杀的跨性别受害者的意义。