Transgender Woman Stoned to Death in Brazil

A transgender woman in Brazil has died after being stoned by a group of attackers last week, reports Gay Star News.

The woman, who was born Amos Chagas Lima and went by the name of Madona, was pelted with cobblestones by her assailants October 19 in Aracaju, the capital of the state of the Brazilian state of Sergipe. She was admitted to a hospital and died four days later of severe head injuries. No suspects have been arrested.

Madona, who was a well-known and well-liked figure in Aracaju nightlife, is among many transgender people who have been targets of violence in Brazil, activists say.

"Trans people are the smallest and most vulnerable part of the LGBT Brazilian communities, making up a mere 10th, yet we suffer from the highest incidence of violence and murder," Keila Simpson, president of the National Council to Combat Discrimination, told Gay Star News. "Since January we have had over 100 transgender people murdered here -- that means over 10 people murdered every month. ... People here in Brazil think that if they don't like someone, like a trans person, they have a right to murder. Murders occur because they go often unpunished -- simply put: Homophobic and transphobic hate is not a criminal offence."