Missouri’s 1st transgender inmate execution
One AmericaNov 25, 2022
Missouri Set for First Execution of Trans Woman
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Image copyright: Federal Public Defender Office/AP [via CBS]
The Facts
Amber McLaughlin, 49, is set to become the first openly transgender woman executed in the US on Tuesday after Missouri Gov. Mike Parson rejected a request to grant clemency.
Before transitioning, McLaughlin had been in a relationship with Beverly Guenther, who later filed for a restraining order. Guenther was found raped and murdered after neighbors reported she hadn't come home on Nov. 20, 2003.
The Spin
Left narrative
Amber McLaughlin endured a horrendously abusive childhood which led to her extremely depressive state as an adult. While there's no excuse for the murder, Gov. Parson should have chosen life in prison over the death penalty, especially given that the jury couldn't even agree on a sentence, coupled with Missouri being known for its overuse of the death penalty, which only serves to compound violence with violence.
Right narrative
Unfortunately, rough childhoods and depression are many people's reality, but this does not justify turning to crime. McLaughlin at the time was a man who raped and murdered his ex-girlfriend, just as many violent men have in the past. The death penalty is reserved for only the most heinous of crimes, and McLaughlin's troubled background does not put her above the law.
