First openly transgender woman set to be executed in the U.S. asks for mercy

[ZombieMumEB]

"The first openly transgender woman set to be executed in the U.S. is asking Missouri’s governor for mercy, citing mental health issues.

Lawyers for Amber McLaughlin, now 49, on Monday asked Republican Gov. Mike Parson to spare her.

McLaughlin was convicted of killing 45-year-old Beverly Guenther on Nov. 20, 2003. Guenther was raped and stabbed to death in St. Louis County."

www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/first-openly-transgender-woman-set-executed-us-asks-mercy-rcna61846

“It is extremely unusual for a woman to commit a capital offense, such as a brutal murder, and even more unusual for a woman to, as was the case with McLaughlin, rape and murder a woman,” Pojmann said.

Could that be because they are male? 🤔They "transitioned" whilst on death row.

Perhaps being trans is the modern version of finding God, in the hope to be spared the death penalty?

‘extremely unusual for a woman to commit…’ but they only recently transed. So was a ‘living as’ and ‘identifying as’ a man at the time of the attack.

i wonder if this was a lawyer suggestion?

I don't think it's totally fair to judge him for this. Judge him for being a rapist and a murderer, yes, but not for the completely natural instinct to do absolutely anything it takes to avoid being killed. When an animal, human or otherwise, thinks it's going to die, it can do extreme things in an effort to survive. We generally don't judge people as harshly for things they did to avoid certain death as we would if they'd done those things in other circumstances.

Ooh! Being a trans woman is a reason not to be killed... but being a woman isn't?

Think it through! Why is he in prison? Why would we need to understand his continued use of women as his shield as well as his punchbag?

You're a blood thirsty lot on this board.

That the death penalty exists at all in a so-called civilised society is the real travesty here. Maybe wake up a bit and think about that. FFS.

It's been suggested by professionals for some time that some male offenders might transition in order to obtain preferential treatment from the criminal justice system. That's a concern where or not there's a death sentence.

Sometimes more than one thing is happening at the same time.

Was that to me?

Aside from the capital punishment issue: this is a MAN. Obviously. What’s the purpose of news reporting if the basic facts are incorrect?

Actually, although the death penalty is of course a huge issue, it’s not the point of the thread.

Well he would, wouldn’t he?

I should imagine most criminal deviants would employ any lie available if they thought it would improve their position.

“It is extremely unusual for a woman to commit a capital offense, such as a brutal murder, and even more unusual for a woman to, as was the case with McLaughlin, rape and murder a woman,” Pojmann said.

But surely a woman (trans or otherwise) did not commit this crime. This person decided to transition AFTER the crime was committed. Surely all details of a crime have to remain as they were at the time the crime was committed.

I agree with PP it's subtle way of pointing out how ludicrous this is.

I understand that a very high percentage of so-called TW in prison “trans” 🙄 AFTER sentencing.

I wonder what it is about being sent to prison that makes some male criminals decide that they’re actually women??

Not so much 'suggested' as predicted, and there now seems evidence - much in the U.K. - that this is happening.

If you live in a country which has the death penalty, then commit a crime which warrants that, then too bad. What did you expect? What's worse IMO is the judicial system going along with this trans bollocks and redefining these horrendous crimes as being committed by women, when they are clearly men. If clemency is granted to this waste of oxygen then that just puts the fucking top hat on it.

His or her or its sex is irrelevant though,,or should be. The offence of rape in the US ( thank you pp) penetration of the vagina with an object or some part of the offender’s anatomy, so this perp is guilty of rape, and of murder , too. Whether he/ she/ it is wearing a dress today has nothing to do with it, unless a plea of insanity for pretending to be a woman is being taken into account.

But that’s impossible , because finding your real self, your true identity, is a wondrous occurrence which must be celebrated by all the other herd members.

In case it needs saying, I am absolutely opposed to the death penalty. It is the idiocy of this man trying to avoid his sentence by saying that he feels like a woman that I am calling out.

agree with most of the posts on here:

1. the death penalty shouldn't exist, anywhere, ever;

2. transitioning after committing a crime shouldn't have any bearing on sentencing, anywhere, ever.

I agree with both of these.

I also think that when someone is subject to an impending death penalty, any actions they take to attempt to reduce the likelihood they'll be killed should be viewed in that light — an action taken in extremis to try to save their own life. Somebody described transitioning in an attempt to avoid the death sentence (if that is actually what he's doing) as trying to manipulate the system, and I just think that using language with such negative emotional valence is a bit much; wouldn't anyone try to avoid death by any means possible? Yes, it's dishonest, but I'd probably tell a lie like that if I thought it might save my life. It's such a powerful instinct, to avoid death.

If that really is why he's doing it, purely to escape being killed, I think it's different to lying to try and get into a women's prison because you think you'll do easier time, or because you want access to female prisoners.

I think the death penalty is probably one of the most unjust things that can happen in a state which has other penal options, so I'm in favour of any person's death penalty being removed. In principle I wouldn't have a problem if every male on death row declared himself to be a transwoman and somehow that meant they couldn't be executed, because the death sentence is so abhorrent to me, but obviously they must remain in a male prison.

yep.

first best outcome here - criminal is put in a male prison, with the key thrown away.

very distant second best outcome, I guess - the death penalty.

by far the worst outcome, likely creating a string of new victims - criminal is put in a female prison.

puffyisgood

by far the worst outcome, likely creating a string of new victims - criminal is put in a female prison.

Men, whether castrated or not, should never be in a prison with women.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/03/amber-mclaughlin-missouri-transgender-person-execution

I don't agree with the death penalty, I hope, a bit, that they didn't fuck it up and cause unnecessary suffering.

I hope for the best for the family, friends and loved ones of Beverly Guenther, whose name finally gets a mention in the tenth paragraph. Whose rape isn't mentioned at all. The terror that was caused to her can only be inferred.

From that Guardian article:

“They further stated in the letter: “Ms McLaughlin’s cruel execution would mark the state’s first use of the death penalty on a woman since the US supreme court reinstated capital punishment in 1976, and even worse it would not solve any of the systemic problems facing Missourians and people all across America, including anti-LGBTQ+ hate and violence, and cycles of violence that target and harm women.”

FFS. This was a man who stalked and murdered (and raped? It doesn’t mention that in this article) a woman. And they dare to state it’s the first execution of a woman since 1976?!

And this isn’t the Guardian’s viewpoint, although it’s clear they agree with it, it’s a quote from a letter written by two elected US politicians!

I find all state sanctioned executions to be horrific and it's no different in this case.

Separately it is bizarre and abhorrent that media outlets like the Guardian are referring to this person as a woman, and ignoring the fact that this person committed horrific male violence against women. It's like a surreal alternate universe.

Women aren’t excluded from getting the death penalty. Not quite sure what this bloke is trying to achieve here.

Women aren’t excluded from getting the death penalty. Not quite sure what this bloke is trying to achieve here.

’was’ trying to achieve - he’s been executed.

I suspect he was looking to pull a few extra heart strings using the ‘most oppressed’ dialogue and/or (being more cynical), trying to reinforce his mental incapacity / troubled upbringing ‘defence.’

I abhor the death penalty as a concept, but this man had plenty of time to stop, or get help to stop, his behaviour. I’m concerned that he wasn’t forcibly helped (although I don’t know all the history) even though the police were involved on several occasions before his victim’s death.

His being the ‘first woman to be executed’ (he isn’t) is largely irrelevant guff. What’s more relevant is how many mentally disturbed people are left untreated and roaming the streets in the US (and no better here in the UK).

And yet I’d be pleasantly surprised if either of the politicians quoted in the article have consistently campaigned for better funding of mental healthcare in their country.