On June 21, the same weekend Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson announced he was declaring a “Transfemicide State of Emergency,” 36 people were shot in the city, six fatally. At the current homicide rate, Chicago is on pace to record 445 homicides this year. By contrast, only 14 transgender people were killed in Chicago between 2016 and 2024, averaging 1.6 per year, only marginally higher than the number of non-transgender homicide victims killed each day.
The transfemicide emergency was declared in response to a phenomenon that averages 0.003 deaths per day.
Johnson’s declaration, originally signed in December 2024 as Executive Order 2024-2, created a Transfemicide Working Group and directed the Chicago Commission on Human Relations and the Chicago Police Department to develop strategies to address violence against transgender individuals.
The city defines transfemicide as the “targeted killing of a transgender woman motivated by transphobic and misogynistic hatred.” The June 21 announcement expanded the original declaration into a community-driven framework and appointed Antonio King as Chicago’s first Director of LGBTQ+ Affairs, making Chicago the largest city in the country with an executive-level position dedicated to LGBTQ+ equity.
The announcement came two days after Juneteenth, the federal holiday observed annually on June 19 to commemorate June 19, 1865, when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, and informed more than 250,000 black people that they were free. Apparently, in Chicago, the holiday is marked by widespread violence and disorder.
Over the extended Juneteenth holiday weekend, from June 19 through June 22, eight people were killed and nearly 40 others were wounded in 24 separate shooting incidents. Among the dead was Marcus Chatman, 14, who was shot multiple times Thursday night in Auburn Gresham, where he played for the Midwest Hawks youth football team.
The weekend’s largest incident was a mass shooting in Roseland on Friday night, when a red SUV drove past a Juneteenth gathering and two occupants opened fire, striking 14 people between the ages of 17 and 47. None of the weekend’s victims were transgender.