In the early hours last month, an unknown individual shot into Las Vegas’ only transgender club, injuring at least two people. The windows were covered in bright ads along with a trans flag bearing a silhouetted image of a woman below the bar’s name, the Las Vegas Lounge.
It’s worth recounting this image not to set the scene but also to make the observation: the shooter could not have seen inside to target any individual.
Black trans woman Callie Lou-Bee Haywood was injured in the shooting and was taken to the hospital. She reported on Facebook that “the bullets shattered my bones and they’re broken in my leg!”
“This pain is beyond excruciating,” she wrote in a comment.
As Haywood also noted on Facebook, the circumstances surrounding the attack indicate it was a message that “trans people are not welcome here.” The details are still being released, but the attack was followed by another tragedy to which trans people are all too: The shooting received almost no media coverage.
According to police, “the suspect arrived on foot, walked by the lounge, pulled out a gun and shot into the building without warning from a parking lot, police said. Multiple people were inside the business, and no one saw the gunman before he ran away.”
