Mayor Brandon Johnson declares a transfemicide crisis, ignores hundreds of black deaths

Chicago, Chicago, that toddling town: Or it was some time ago when Frank Sinatra sang about it.Now it’s in the throes of something called a “Transfemicide State of Emergency,” according to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, with no time for a little toddling around the dance floor.Posting to his X account, Johnson announced in all apparent seriousness: “Since declaring a Transfemicide State of Emergency, our administration has strengthened the City’s capacity to support LGBTQ+ Chicagoans.”The city, he continued, is “centering the voices and lived experiences of trans Chicagoans to chart a path toward a safer, more connected city.”“Transfemicide” is the “targeted killing of a transgender woman motivated by transphobic and misogynistic hatred.”Chicago implemented its state of emergency in 2024.You may think such a thing is necessary because of the many, many murders of trans Chicagoans happening daily.In fact, only one trans person was killed in Chicago in all of last year — and the incident appears to have been a matter of domestic violence unrelated to their trans status.That’s sad, but it’s not “Transfemicide State of Emergency” sad.American cities are sinking, and few embody this decline more than Chicago.Last week, over the Juneteenth three-day weekend, 39 people were shot in Chi-town and six killed.None of them were trans.That is not considered a state of emergency — it’s just an average weekend in Chicago, a city that saw 416 murders last year, many of them young black men.And those 416 killings were seen as a win for the city, representing the lowest homicide rate in 60 years.But when you’re still tallying more than a murder a day, perhaps the celebrations should be somewhat muted lest an SUV pulls up and starts spraying the party with bullets, as occurred at a Juneteenth celebration a few days ago.Meanwhile, Chicagoans’ quality of life continues to deteriorate, and people and businesses are leaving in droves.When Ken Grif...