Activists say Detroit murder victim was a transgender woman

DETROIT — The Wayne County Medical Examiner has identified the body of a murder victim that activists in the LGBT community say was a transgender woman.

Mary Mazur, a spokeswoman for the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office said the body of Calvin Curtis Lipscomb was burned so badly she couldn’t be identified for 11 days, reported MLive.

Lipscomb’s burned body was discovered in a trash bin in Detroit on Nov. 8.

Mazur said Lipscomb, identified with the help of a cousin who provided fingerprint data, died of a shotgun wound. She was 53.

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Equality Michigan, a statewide anti-violence and LGBT advocacy organization, first reported last month that Lipscomb’s body, which had not yet been identified, was is believed to be a member of the transgender community.

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“We know that transgender women of color are the most disproportionately affected by violence and hate against the LGBT communities, and this latest incident is a tragic reminder of that reality,” said Yvonne Siferd, director of victim services for Equality Michigan, in a statement last month.

“The undignified way in which [Lipscomb’s] body was dumped speaks to the larger issue of anti-transgender hostility in our society,” said Siferd.

Detroit police have not called the killing of Calvin Lipscomb a hate crime nor confirmed that Lipscomb was transgender.