Police misgendered Jayla McGee, local media overlooked her homicide, and her community was left to make sure she was not erased.
If a Black transgender teenager gets shot and killed in Florida and no one reports it, what does that say about the value of their life? It’s a question trans activists are struggling with after the scant attention paid to the killing of Jayla McGee, a 19-year-old whose death has been barely acknowledged by the media or authorities. McGee's relatives announced her death on social media after she died on July 5. Posts promoting a candlelight vigil held July 18 identified her as Jayla and Baby Jay, while others used her apparent assigned name. In various posts, her mother, Jameka McGee, referred to McGee while also sharing graphics bearing the name Jayla. According to social media reports, McGee died from gun violence in Belle Glade, Florida, where she was born and raised.
