Transgender youth leader charged with murder

[alp227]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

(11-08) 17:21 PST WALNUT CREEK -- A transgender youth leader was charged with murder Monday in the fatal stabbing of her boyfriend in Walnut Creek, a prosecutor said.

Akira Tajah Jackson, 24, of Oakland was also charged with an enhancement for using a large kitchen knife to kill 56-year-old Alan Gray in his home on Santa Rita Drive at about 9:20 a.m. Thursday.

Born David Gavin, Jackson has been living as a woman for five years and met Gray about a year and a half ago while she was dancing at Diva's nightclub in San Francisco, said Contra Costa County prosecutor Barry Grove.

Gray was aware of Jackson's transgender identity, Grove said.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/08/BAAQ1G9206.DTL

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Great. Jackson has given conservatives new ammo in defending homophobia. When gay-rights advocates (and sane people) were discussing Matthew Shepherd, the hate wing hollered: "Jesse Dirkhising!" (Seriously, WorldNetDaily article is the 2nd result of googling JD's name. Critical analysis of WND coverage here.) Now, whenever we discuss homophobia leading to teen suicides, the right wing will be able to say "What about Akira Tajah Jackson?" Regardless, this is a sad domestic violence case, and Jackson should be properly prosecuted.

[TheWraith]

1. Her boyfriend was 56?

I've got nothing against fairly good spreads in age, I've been a part of some of them. But that seems a wee bit excessive.

[BillH76]

7. Call off your tired old morals.

Give one good moral reason why people of very different ages shouldn't get involved with each other.

[Divine Discontent]

8. good succinct post!

it is so true. morally, what is the problem? nothing! sure, all the simple facts of why it could be a bad idea are something those in a potential relationship have to discuss, but those things are for THEM to figure out. I know it's really rare for someone to be over 30 years older than their partner, but, good point, it really is not immoral whatsoever.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

11. power imbalances. also this is hardly an old moral. in past centuries

it was quite common for women to have husbands thrice their age.

[TheWraith]

13. Power imbalances is exactly right.

There's some situations where I wouldn't raise and eyebrow at this. One involving a transwoman, who eventually ended up murdering her boyfriend? No, that gets filed directly under "questionable," thank you very much. I have a friend who's a transwoman about this age, and I know it's damn difficult for her to be able to afford her hormones. It wouldn't surprise me if the "boyfriend" had been paying for her meds in this situation, which is an added complication and would just add to the questionable nature of the whole thing.

[TheWraith]

14. I don't particularly like to traffic in morals. But when a relationship ends in murder?

Yeah, I'm going to say there's something dubious there. Maybe the older man was a power player, exploiting his age and financial position to control an uncertain young transwoman. Maybe she was a black widow, seducing a lonely older man and then killing him. I don't know. I do know that anything approaching a healthy relationship doesn't end using knives.

[truthisfreedom]

9. I'm fifty, my girlfriend's 20. She's from South America... her attitude is

age is just a number. It's very common in her part of the world.

[TheWraith]

15. Good for you.

But it sounds like your girlfriend is a bit more grounded than most people her age. My last girlfriend was 6 years younger than me, and it eventually ended because she was too immature for it to work.

[Gormy Cuss]

2. The early reports just described her as a woman. Who the fuck cares if she's transgendered?

Yeah, I know, deviant conservatives will care but I'm addressing the question to normal people.

[Stuckinthebush]

3. Funny, I was just yelling the same thing

Why does that fucking matter?

Jeez...

[Warpy]

6. Because it's so unusual

it's fucking UNHEARD OF, that's why.

I agree that "transgendered" has absolutely nothing to do with this case.

Unfortunately, now that she's been outed, the mean spirited church ladies of both sexes will howl that the hormones made her crazy or some such claptrap and agitate to get gender reassignment banned, like that would have done any good in this case or in any case, at all.

This is just ugly and sad and got a lot uglier now that she's been outed.

[AtheistCrusader]

4. Zero diff to me. Just a schlock headline.

[bluedigger]

5. I could care less about her "identity".

Dude shacked up with a stripper with issues apparently - high risk behavior. But what is "an enhancement"? I've never heard of that charge before. If she used a paring knife, would it make a difference?:shrug:

[Warren Stupidity]

10. Your equivocation of this crime with that of the killers of Matthew is idiocy.

This appears to have been a more or less standard domestic homicide. Not a hate crime. Girlfriend kills boyfriend, or more typically the other way around, is just not relevant to homophobic hate crimes.

[alp227]

12. no i said that CONSERVATIVES would do that equivocation n/t

[Warren Stupidity]

16. no you lectured the perpetrator for muddying the waters

and then blamed that on the awful conservatives who would do as you just did.

[alp227]

17. i wasn't blaming Jackson, I was just saying that conservatives will use this case

to advance anti-gay sentiment.