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N.Y. Transgender Woman Dies After Brutal Beating

N.Y. Transgender Woman Dies After Brutal Beating

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Islan Nettles, 21, died yesterday of injuries received in an attack last Saturday.

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A transgender woman who was brutally beaten Saturday night in New York's Harlem neighborhood died Thursday of her injuries.

Islan Nettles was taken off life support yesterday at Harlem Hospital, news website DNAInfo New York reports. She was 21 and an aspiring fashion designer.

Nettles and a friend, also a transgender woman, were attacked by a group of men late Saturday night. Upon learning the women were transgender, the men began punching them and using homophobic slurs, according to DNAInfo.

Police, who are investigating the attack as a bias crime, have arrested a 20-year-old man in connection with it but have not released his name. He has been charged with misdemeanor assault, but the charge is expected to be upgraded now, police said.

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Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.