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Recently, the media's coverage of trans homicides has increased in the U.S. Studies show that the news media's framing has been largely negative but has improved in recent times. Yet, research has mostly analyzed the news media's framing of victims who were trans women, thus limiting our understanding of this issue across different trans groups. The present study employs a mixed method approach to comparatively analyze articles ( N  = 124) published in online news media outlets of 15 trans men and 15 trans women murdered between 2016 and 2022. The findings indicate news media outlets used more positive and neutral frames than negative for both groups. However, when compared to trans women, trans men were delegitimized at higher rates. These findings highlight the ways that the police, news media, family, friends, and community members simultaneously contribute to the humanization and delegitimization of trans victims of homicide, demonstrating the importance of ensuring all information released about the victims correctly reflects who they were, or the cycle of delegitimization will continue. By studying how the news media frames trans homicide victims, we can look at how the media shapes cultural beliefs and ideologies about trans people, the role of language in reinforcing stereotypes, and the implications of these framings for trans people., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author declared no potential conflicts of interests with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

The United States experienced a record number of homicides against transgender victims in 2020, six of which occurred in Puerto Rico. Of the victims, five were trans women, and one was a trans man. Through case-study analysis, we explore how gender nonconformity is stigmatized within the context of Puerto Rico. Using storyline analysis of the language used by offenders, news media, and police, several themes emerged: (1) framing trans people as deceitful; (2) deadnaming, misgendering, and victim-blaming, and (3) community advocacy for the murder victims. Using the framework of hetero-cis-normativity, we explore how hetero-cis-normative biases may explain why negative attitudes toward trans individuals vary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent analyses of transgender homicide victims find that the news media often uses improper terminology, delegitimizes, and victim blames them. These analyses, while insightful, are limited as they have largely analyzed cases involving trans women and trans feminine individuals. The present study employs a mixed-method approach to analyze news media articles (N = 88) published in U.S. online news media outlets about 17 gender non-conforming victims killed between 2012 and 2022. We found that most articles did not delegitimize or victim blame. However, we find (1) victim blaming occurred when reporting on cases of officer-involved shootings, (2) certain victims receive more coverage and support, (3) confusion about terminology when discussing the gender of victims, and (4) episodic framing of transphobic violence. Implications and potential areas of research and practice are provided to address, challenge, increase, and improve news media reporting of these victims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]