Members of Toronto’s LGBTQ community mourn the loss of activist Julie Berman, a transgender woman who famously advocated for more protections for transgender individuals. Police found her murdered December 22, the Globe and Mail reports.
Berman first rose to prominence in Toronto after delivering a passionate speech in honor of Transgender Day of Remembrance in 2017. Berman spoke about a transgender friend she’d lost to murder. Just two years later, Berman experienced a similar fate.
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“It’s really heartbreaking … the same thing that she was trying to be vocal about happened to her,” said Davina Hader, a friend of Berman and a member of The 519, an LGBTQ organization that advocates for inclusion and provides services to the queer community. Berman had participated in The 519 events for almost 30 years. She also worked as a hairdresser.
Police discovered the beaten body of Berman in her home on December 22. She was rushed to a hospital, where doctors pronounced her dead. Law enforcement has arrested 29-year-old Colin Harnack and charged him with second-degree murder. A police investigation into the crime, as well as the relationship of Harnack and Berman, remains ongoing, though research by The Post Millennial suggests that Harnack had been a supporter–possibly even a member–of the LGBTQ community. Rob Choe, of the Toronto Police, say that the pair met the day of the attack, though it is unknown if the two had any kind of sexual or romantic involvement.
wikidBSTN
I really can’t understand WHY anyone would want to perpetrate violence against someone just because they are transgender. It makes no sense to me on any level. To me, it is about as innocuous as having freckles.
djmcgamester
I don’t understand any of it. She isn’t hurting anyone just by existing. This sort of stuff is just so messed up.
iron
The perpetrators/killers need to be made an example of regardless This type requires hanging
Polaro
“Harnack had been a supporter–possibly even a member–of the LGBTQ community”. Maybe it had nothing to do with her gender.
Tallskin
Despite hysterical trannnies screaming about evil Terfs committing the deed “Thanks for that Megan Murphy” blah blah blah. It turns out the perp was another trannnyy-nonbinary artiste suffering from a severe case of mental illhealth
The Perp was Colin Harnack, aged 29, who remained at the scene as the police arrived, and was booked on the charge of second-degree murder.
Despite trannniiies whining about a spate of trannnnies being murdered last year, Julie Berman was the only transgender person reported to have been murdered in Canada in 2019.
Meanwhile, the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability published findings in January 2019 that every 2.5 days on average, a woman or girl had been murdered in Canada the prior year. 90% of the 148 murdered women and girls were killed by men.
Far more non-tranniies are murdered in percentage terms than trannniies. And trannniies are more often the perpetrators of violence rather than the victims
Polaro
While I agree with your assessment of the overreach of many transgender people on social media (who are not reflective of the average transgender person in my circle), I can’t go along with your derogatory approach.
Kangol2
Do you need to use an offensive term to describe trans people? You are committing transphobic verbal violence with your comments. Please, stop it.
Kangol2
Such sad news about Ms. Berman. May she rest in peace. According to the linked article, Harnack may have been wrestling with his own gender expression issues.