With 2021 poised to be the deadliest year on record for violence against transgender or gender non-conforming people living in the United States, one local nonprofit is stepping up its efforts to provide safe housing for Tucson’s transgender women of color. As of Dec. 4, 50 transgender or gender non-conforming people were fatally shot, or killed through other violent means, according to the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocacy group and political lobbying organization. In previous years, the majority of victims were Black and Latinx transgender women, the organization says. This is up from 2020’s record 44 fatalities, making 2021 the most violent year on record since the Human Rights Campaign began tracking such crimes in 2013. While the details of the cases differ, data has shown that fatal violence disproportionately affects transgender women of color — especially Black transgender women — and that unequal access to resources, including housing, increases their likelihood of being victims of crimes, the organization says.