T-News: the good and the bad

Transgender Candidate Runs in Florida

Donna Milo, a transgender Republican businesswoman from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is in the race for the 20th congressional district seat, running on a platform of conservative values in government.

"I'm concerned about the way the government is growing —all of the overregulation, all of the taxation," Milo told CBS4, a Miami television station.

Milo has never held public office and hopes her transgender status does not deter voters.
"It's one of my characteristics, but my campaign and platform, what I'm all about is the conservative values that made this country a great country that made this country a beacon of hope for many people, including my family," Milo said. "My friends and family have been very supportive. I've been blessed."

In addition to being a mother and a candidate, Milo is a homebuilder and a pilot.
Milo, along with six other candidates, is trying to unseat incumbent congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat who is running for reelection.


Transgendered student attacked on LB campus

Police are asking for the public's help to find the person who attacked a transgender student on the California State University, Long Beach campus.

Authorities say that the 27-year-old victim was approached in a campus bathroom April 15.

According to police, the suspect pulled the victim's T-shirt over his head, pushed him into a stall, and then slashed his chest with a sharp object. The attacker then fled the area.

The victim was treated at a hospital and released. Police believe the attack was an isolated incident.

The suspect is described as a white male in his 20s, 5 feet 9 inches to 5 feet 10 inches tall, with a thin build and dark colored hair. He was last seen wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt with dark khaki shorts.


Transgender Woman Murdered in Puerto Rico

Ashley Santiago Ocasio was found dead in her home in Puerto Rico last week, raising concerns of increasing hate crimes against transgender women on the Caribbean island.

Santiago, a 31-year-old beauty salon owner, was shot in the head in the central mountain town of Corozal, the Associated Press reports. Although her car was missing, no signs of a break-in were apparent. Her killer remains at large.

“The grisly scene at Santiago's home raised suspicion that she may have been targeted because of her gender identity,” reports the AP. “A common characteristic of hate crime killings is excessive violence done to the victim, and there was so much blood spattered on the walls and floors that police initially believed Santiago had been stabbed repeatedly.”

Police have yet to determine whether the evidence warrants investigating the murder as a hate crime. An autopsy is pending.

Gay teenager Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado was found decapitated and burned in another small town in Puerto Rico in November. His killer, who confessed to stabbing Lopez after he discovered he was a man, faces a charge of first-degree murder, but he is not charged with a hate crime.