Rocio Villalobos 
McAllen- Democrats in the House Judiciary Committee approved a reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act that expands protections for transgender victims.
“It’s a long time overdue, in all perfect candor,” said activist Madeleine Croll. “We need more of this sort of protection.”
Madeleine Croll is a transgender activist in the Rio Grande Valley who serves in various LGBTQ organizations.
“If I can be somebody who is a positive of my community so then (people are) like, ‘no, I know a trans person,’ all of a sudden, ‘they’re not bad people, so how can they all be bad people.’”
According to a 2015 report by the National Center for Transgender Equality, 48% of transgender individuals are sexually assaulted at some point in their lifetime, with rates even higher among people of color.
The provisions to the act introduced by California Representative Karen Bass include allowing transgender women access to shelters and the ability to serve time in prisons aligning with the sex with which they identify.
Croll says the amendments are a step in the right direction, as they call for recognizing trans women as women.
“We’re a very wonderful multicultural, multi-ethnic community of many different types of people, and letting us be ourselves is a benefit to the community, rather than a flaw,” said Croll.
The NRA opposed the bill, due to another provision that would ban individuals convicted of misdemeanor charges of stalking or domestic abuse from purchasing firearms.
Click on the video below to watch the full story.
