Trans bashing is the act of victimizing a person physically, sexually, or verbally because they are transgender or transsexual. Unlike gay bashing, it is committed because of the target's actual or perceived gender identity, not sexual orientation. However, a trans person may be gay bashed if the person perceives them as gay rather than transgender. The term has also been applied to hate speech directed at transgender people and at depictions of transgender people in the media that reinforce negative stereotypes about them.
Discrimination, including physical or sexual violence against trans people due to transphobia or homophobia, is a common occurrence for trans people. Every 3 days a murder of a trans person is reported, and many murders are believed to go unreported. Hate crimes against trans people are common even recently, and "in some instances, inaction by police or other government officials leads to the untimely deaths of transgender victims."
One of the most famous incidents was the December 1993 rape and murder of Brandon Teena, a young trans man who was raped and murdered by two male friends after they found out that he had been assigned female at birth. The events became internationally known when told in the feature film Boys Don't Cry, which earned Hilary Swank an Academy Award for best actress.
In Seattle's gay village of Capitol Hill, there is some evidence of an increase in incidents of trans bashing over the past two years.
Read more about Trans Bashing: Differentiating Trans Bashing From Gay Bashing, U.S. Hate Crime Laws Covering Gender Identity