Prosecutor Kym Worthy requests additional funding to fight LGBTQ hate crime

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy appeared before the Wayne County Commission on Wednesday to request additional funding for the Fair Michigan Justice Project, which investigates hate crimes against the LGBTQ community.

The project, launched in 2016 by the nonprofit organization Fair Michigan, assists Michigan police and prosecutors in solving crimes against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.

The initiative investigates and prosecutes new and cold homicide cases, criminal sexual conduct, carjacking, armed robbery, assault and other crimes committed against the LBGTQ community, where victims were targeted based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Worthy said the project is the first in the nation to be dedicated to prosecutorial support and protection of members of the LGBTQ community.

Worthy mentioned that crimes committed against victims based on gender identity or sexual orientation account for the second-largest amount of biased crimes in Michigan, second only to crimes based on race and ethnicity.

“We have cases like the defendant will pour gasoline on the victim with the intent to set them on fire simply because of their sexual orientation and gender identity,” Worthy said. “We have one where the victim was beaten to death very savagely. This (funding) is very necessary.”

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Julisa Abad, a trans woman of color and the project’s director of transgender outreach and advocacy, spoke about her role in the project.

“In 2016, I myself lived in the Palmer Park area and saw an influx of my friends and sisters being murdered and nothing being done about it,” Abad said. “I called Attorney General Dana Nessel and basically pleaded and told her what trans women of color go through.”

The project has been working on increasing cultural competency in police departments and agencies to rebuild the trust between members of the LGBTQ community and responding officers, Abad said. The project also assists trans individuals in obtaining identification that reflects their identity at no cost to them.

“Because of how the dynamic has shifted with my community and police interactions and them feeling comfortable, they have called out and reached out (to police about) other crimes which have nothing to do with LGBT things,” Abad said. “Now my community feels comfortable in reporting all crimes.”

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The initiative currently received $80k in the 2021-22 year from the committee. If this additional funding is approved, it will receive $150k in 2022-23. The committee will vote on the additional funding when a formal request is made.

“I am so grateful for this project,” Abad said. “Not only has it changed my life but it has been monumental in helping the quality of (life of) trans individuals in Michigan.”

Contact Navya Gupta: ngupta@freepress.com

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Kym Worthy seeks funding for Fair Michigan Justice Project