‘Black Trans Lives Matter’ Searched 10x More in 2020 Than 2019

By N. Jamiyla Chisholm Sep 17, 2020

Users looking below Google’s search bar today (September 17) will see the statement: “See how America is searching to support Black trans communities.” Click that linkand the search engine shares a bleak statistic: At least 26 transgender people were killed between January and July of this year. Most of those murdered were Black trans women, and those numbers are most certainly an undercount because many deaths go unreported or victims are misgendered, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

But there is good news. According to Google Trends data, “Black trans lives matter” was searched 10 times more this year than it was last year. Furthermore, both “transphobia” and “Black trans people killed” are being searched at record-high levels, Google wrote. The public is trying to figure out ways to support the Black trans community; Google confirmed that people are also searching for terms “Black trans organizations,” “trans activists” and “how to be a good ally.”

To acknowledge the shift in public sentiment, Google premiered a short film called “Black Trans Lives Matter,” in which the exact phrases searched are featured, along with the names and images of Black trans people who have been researched through Google’s browser, such as activists Raquel Willis, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, Laverne Cox, Shea Diamond and Andrea Jenkins

Watch the video below: