Man Shoots Girlfriend for being Trans
Via the Daily Mail:
A Russian man murdered his girlfriend after discovering she had once been a man.
The killer, identified as Vladimir F by police, shot Camila several times, deliberately targeting the parts of her body altered during a sex change operation.
He had only found out about her previous identity after she turned down his offer of marriage.
And the comments, as usual, bring the fail:
i think he had a right to be upset.
- Bob, wirral, 10/7/2009 15:46
As Natalia Antonova said when I checked with her on this story,
This entire thing has the whiff of an honour killing about it, honestly.
Vladimir F felt that Camilla’s history damaged his manhood, and decided murder was the only way to save it. His hurt feelings were more important than a woman’s life. Business as usual, except of course this (like many others) will be justified because cis people see Camilla’s history as a trans woman as justifying her murder.
… especially from the murmurs I hear about Russia’s justice system and the trans/misogynistic/homophobic nature of their society…
z
July 13, 2009 at 10:04 pm
Yeah, the Daily Mail likes to paint Russia in a really bad light, too, which is why I had to verify the story.
But while Russia does have a lot of transphobia, misogyny, and homophobia, so does the US and pretty much everywhere else, so they’re not unique. Maybe more open in some ways (or more frequently open about it.
Lisa Harney
July 13, 2009 at 10:09 pm
Well, what came to mind was the (first? My memory is pretty shaky) Russian pride parade and the police basically brutally broke the event up and I think jailed some of the marchers, while the anti-pride protesters were treated lightly.
Other Western countries are bad, but I think Russia is coming towards the worse end of the scale — let’s not begin about some countries in, say, Africa…
z
July 13, 2009 at 11:58 pm
I linked to some posts about Africa by an African lesbian trans woman some months back, and she talks about it at length.
I’m just, this is about another woman being murdered.
Lisa Harney
July 14, 2009 at 12:32 am
Mmm, it is much, much worse.
z
July 14, 2009 at 12:40 am
It’s fascinating how the Daily Mail is quite happy to consistently use feminine pronouns (albeit while saying “had once been a man” and insisting on citing her “pre-op” name) when the goal is all about making Russia look like a barbaric, intolerant society.
QoT
July 14, 2009 at 1:57 am
I know, right?
Stay classy, Daily Mail!
Lisa Harney
July 14, 2009 at 2:00 am
Russia, as the biggest country in the world, has a pretty interesting spectrum of life. The population isn’t huge, but the great distances of Russia have historically made it a place where people can carve out their own existence and philosophy. There’s a saying – “the sky is high, the Czar is far” – it means that hey, I can act however I want to act, the law isn’t the same for everyone across Russia.
But one thing that remains pretty consistent is the way in which machismo is explicitly tied to masculinity, I think. This creates a culture of violence wherein trans women emerge as some of the most vulnerable members of society, because they “anger” and “confuse” the men (poor wee wittle men, they can’t help lying in ambush with a gun! It was all spur of the moment! God, let’s hope no one believes that). Interestingly, I once read the blog of a policeman who mentioned a crime outfit in either Moscow or St. Petersburg that was lead by a trans woman. Sounds lurid, I know, but the interesting part was the way that he said her leadership went unchallenged in the group, who knew she was trans and couldn’t care less. I’m not going to say that this points to growing acceptance of trans people, but it did make it seem as though one of the FEW if not the ONLY places for this woman to thrive was the criminal underworld, which struck me as tragic. You are not safe at a legitimate job, so you have to go underground, where you can’t just get fired.
I think the Daily Mail editors would run around hugging great white sharks if they’d heard that one had bitten Medvedev, but hey, they’re also just reporting the news as they came in from their tabloid counterparts in Russia.
Interestingly though, I understood from Russian sources that the man was, in fact, going to stand trial. Let’s hope he does.
Natalia Antonova
July 14, 2009 at 6:51 am
Oh, thank you for that tidbit.
I also forgot to mention the point you made to me about how the story is suspiciously sexed up, and I’m sorry about that.
Lisa Harney
July 14, 2009 at 7:15 am
From ‘Tusovka’:
“Worth noting is also the fact that many Russian lesbians still reject the term lesbijanka (lesbian) and prefer to refer to themselves as jedinomyshlennitsa (like-minded) or amazone or transsexual. In the Russian perception the term transsexual has a different meaning than in Western Europe and can be understood as a synonym for lesbian.”
Source at http://www.savanne.ch/tusovka/index.ru.html
Anonymous-T-Girl
July 14, 2009 at 7:34 am
@Natalia Antonova
Thank you for your comment, and the cultural context in which to place this violence.
I had seen this story reported earlier, but I was involved in other issues and didn’t have time to read it. The poor woman, this breaks my heart.
gudbuytjane
July 14, 2009 at 9:01 am
two comments:
1) exceptionally virulent russian-language evangelical homophobia was reported a while back as being a growing problem in northern california: http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?pid=1422
2) i agree that it reeks of “honor killing” in the sense of saving masculine face… something which i think underlies a lot of trans-related violence. recall that gwen araujo was murdered by guys she’d already had sex with after their sexual contact with her was made an issue by their peer group. in DC, bella evangelista was murdered while going home from club by someone who encountered her on the street, went away, and then came back to kill here. i’ve always believed that he returned after he was challenged by his own friends to explain what he had been doing, having been seen with her.
cigfran
July 14, 2009 at 9:55 am
I’ve not had the bravery to get anywhere near the comments section for that in the daily mail. I think that my opinions were confirmed. It really is an honour killing, though I feel that the term is misleading. It implies that there was honour, somewhere along the line. I don’t think they deserve that form of connotative sympathy, because it’s harmful to all of the victims there have been and -will- be to ‘honour killings’. That is to say, the tacit ‘understanding’ that whilst the murder was -wrong- they at least have good reasons for it, will encourage people who feel they have those ‘good reasons’ to take their anger out and cost the lives of innocents.
*hopes this is halfway understandable*
Serenegoose
July 14, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Ugh…
One of the more insidious elements of Trans-hate is the inability to date without fear of violence that can later be “justified”. Or the fact that for pre/non op gals the ability to have an organic relationship that develops naturally is nearly impossible.
rioTgirl
July 14, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Hit enter too soon..
For pot-op gals the specter of a trans past will always be there. We are violently punished for our history in ways no other segment of the population is (that I can think of). This routinely plays out with (again) “justified” violence by intimate partners.
rioTgirl
July 14, 2009 at 1:13 pm
I don’t think honor killing makes it sound better than it was. Honor killings are explicitly misogynist violence against women.
Yeah, cigfran, that about the way trans misogynist violence plays out.
Lisa Harney
July 14, 2009 at 4:31 pm
I’m not sure. I think it says something that our media will call those acts ‘honour’ killings says a lot about the perception of them. It may not make it sound better than it was to anybody educated about the situation, but it’s still a euphemism used to blame the victim.
For many (and I don’t even mean the majority, just many) people, ‘Honour killing’ isn’t synonymous with ‘premeditated murder’. To me, to you, they’re one and the same perhaps, but they clearly -aren’t- synonymous to everyone, and I think that belief that it is distinct, or at least somewhat justified in some cases needs to be attacked. Premeditated murder is always just that. It gets no special title if the woman had brought ’shame’ on someone beforehand and they had to protect their masculinity.
Serenegoose
July 14, 2009 at 7:25 pm
I’ve honestly never heard the term “honor killing” used to blame the victim, or to make the killing sound better. I’ve always heard it used to highlight violence against women, and never heard it explained as justifiable or good.
Lisa Harney
July 15, 2009 at 1:17 am
Honour killings are horrific because they privilege someone else’s anxiety over “the neighbours will look at me wrong” over the life of another human being. I can’t think of ANY excuse for cold-blooded murder, in any context (well, we’ve all read stories about, say, parents who go after someone who raped and tortured their child, where there are mitigating circumstances, but I’m not talking about those cases right now), but I am especially terrified by the idea of a life being snuffed out because “honour” must be “cleansed with blood.” There is so much barbarism in this concept, perpetrated against people you are, ostensibly, supposed to love (remember that Vladimir has been painted as someone head over heels in love with Kamilla, someone who proposed marriage), that I just don’t know. It keeps me up at night. Full stop.
Natalia Antonova
July 15, 2009 at 2:38 am
I find the term “honor killing” not at all helpful in this case. As Nastya stated, honor-killings are usually in revenge to a wrong done to one’s family or loved ones, not someone you had sex with. This is classic “I loved/slept with a ‘man’, does that make me a fag?” territory. Absolutely nothing new. As has been stated, there are many cases like Gwen Araujo and Angie Zapata where the murder(s) knew who they were having sex with (remember, Gwen wasn’t on hormones, had no hair removal and had a ‘male’ sounding voice) and it was only when others found out, did they retaliate. No honor ever involved, just shame and insecurity.
gina morvay
July 15, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Natalia described it as an honor killing.
And honor is never involved. It’s always about shame.
And I’m kinda thinking this is a digression.
Lisa Harney
July 15, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Thanks Lisa.
Yeah, I don’t think a trans woman’s murder is really the framework we need for a discussion of semantics.
gudbuytjane
July 15, 2009 at 9:34 pm
[...] 2009 July 15 by gudbuytjane Over at Questioning Transphobia, Lisa posted about Daily Mail’s report on the murder of a Russian trans woman identified only by the name Camilla. I had heard about the [...]
Stop being shocked… « gudbuytjane
July 15, 2009 at 11:17 pm
The reason why I describe it as an honour killing is because I know how rumour and shame and slander are perpetuated in Russian towns.
Naturally, this has nothing to do with anyone’s actual “honour” – just like brothers who shoot their sisters for “talking to strange men” aren’t really worried about “honour” either. It’s an issue of control – controlling the woman, controlling your image, etc.
Vladimir is a cold-blooded murderer who deserves to rot in jail, no matter what the tabloids say about the “poor soul” who was “duped.” But, as Dostoevsky might say, it helps also to look at the society that tacitly approves of Kamilla’s murder. I’m sorry to say it, but few people are probably mourning her right now in Rostov. If anything, the mourning might be an expression of “if only she was like everyone else, this could have been avoided.” It’s all victim-blaming, at its base.
I’m sorry if the rambling comments are unhelpful. This particular situation has really struck a chord with me, as I used to have a friend in Rostov who regularly complained about the close-mindedness she often encountered in society.
Natalia Antonova
July 16, 2009 at 3:49 am
No, thank you for the explanation. I meant the arguing over whether the words “honor killing” should have been used.
Lisa Harney
July 16, 2009 at 3:55 am
[...] Questioning Transphobia on the murder of Kamilla (Lisa quoted me, so this could see like more shameless self-promotion, and for that, I apologize). [...]
Me on Natalia Estemirova’s murder, others on more of the same « Natalia Antonova
July 16, 2009 at 6:35 am
@Natalia
Sorry, I wasn’t commenting on your calling it an honour killing, I just didn’t want to see folks derail this into a discussion of whether or not it should be called ‘honour killing.’ That is a discussion to be had elsewhere.
Thank you for your perspectives and insight, I appreciate them a great deal.
gudbuytjane
July 16, 2009 at 10:16 am
FYI, Rostov is one of the most right wing cities in Russia. It has a large Cossack population who are ultra-conservative, often racist and religious fundamentalists. It also has the largest skinhead gangs in Russia, and that’s saying a lot!
Not that trans people are really accepted anywhere in Russia (although there are some very good Russian-language programs about trans issues posted on YouTube!). Yes, please, let’s drop the word ‘honour’ from this discussion… that doesn’t even enter into it. Right now the jury is deliberating on the trial of Lateisha Green’s accused murderer, Dwight DeLee. As much of a Russophile as I am, it’s hard to concentrate on a horrible crime thousands of miles away when there’s many shameful ones in our own backyard.
gina morvay
July 16, 2009 at 12:26 pm