Police in Austin, Texas, have repeatedly misgendered and deadnamed the transgender victim of a fatal shooting that took place in a Target parking lot on Monday.24-year-old Rosa Machuca, a trans woman, was killed outside the Target store where she worked. 32-year-old Ethan Nieneker has been arrested for allegedly killing her and two other people, 65-year-old Adam Chow and his 4-year-old granddaughter, Astrid Fung. Related Nonbinary biologist fired for hanging large trans Pride flag in Yosemite National Park But in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, the Austin Police Department (APD) deadnamed and misgendered Machuca to the media. Drag Queen Brigitte Bandit posted a video on social media demanding corrections be made. She needs to be recognized for who she was, Bandit said. The violence against trans people in this city is getting out of f**king control. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today View this post on Instagram A post shared by Brigitte Bandit (@brigittebandit)In the caption, she slammed police for not confirming Machucas identity before publicizing her death. Why would they not ask questions if her name was different than what they had legally? this is unacceptable APD.Austin Police ultimately posted a correction, writing, In the interest of respecting all who knew and loved them, including their immediate family, we believe it is important to honor and acknowledge them as they lived their life. But the note has been criticized for using they/them pronouns for Machuca when she used she/her and for including a photo of the suspect rather than of Machuca herself. In addition, the post still mentions her deadname. Bandit called the correction EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND UNCLEAR.APD posted an update for Rosa with a photo of the shooter and does not make it clear that they are discussing the VICTIM, she said. people on socials are using this to spread more transphobia. also, deadnaming and using they/them pronouns for a trans woman is NOT OKAY APD. APD has since removed the photo of the shooter off their facebook post but it remains on X, which is a platform known to promote transphobia. messaging still has not been edited. this is EXTREMELY HARMFUL.Commenters on the APDs Facebook post emphatically agreed. Rosa is a woman and used She/her pronouns and doesnt deserve to be degendered Rosa should not be forgotten by her community nor remembered improperly by others, one person wrote. Another said, Im so grateful for your correction. It would very much help to see a photo of her and not the perpetrator. Lets keep his face off everything and focus on the lives of those lost. Dont give him any attention.Thank you for the correction but I fear that the way this is displayed will make people think Rosa was the shooter & not the woman whos life was stolen from her, another added. Someone else who appeared to know Machuca posted her photo and called her one of the kindest, caring, loving people I have ever met. Machuca was also engaged at the time of her death. Her fiance, Kim Dang, told KXAN they were together for 11 years. I feel like my greatest honor was to be loved by her because she was, she was literally like the sunshine of my life, Dang said. Dang also explained that Machuca had been too scared to attempt to change any of her legal documents to reflect her lived gender. With the world going on right now, its a bit of a scary place in Texas, so she was kind of scared to legally change her name at the time.In August 2024, the state also banned trans people from amending the gender markers on their drivers licenses to align with their gender identity. The new policy from the Department of Public Safety says that even if a trans person presents the state with a certified court order or an amended birth certificate, the gender marker on their drivers license cannot be altered unless the state made a clerical error.A month later, the state eliminated the ability for transgender people to alter the sex marker on their birth certificates.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.