Victoria Rodríguez-Roldán, The Intersection between Disability and LGBT Discrimination and Marginalization, 28 (3) Am. U. J. Gender 2 (2020):
In February of 2016, Kayden Clarke, a 24-year old autistic, transgender man in Mesa, Arizona, allegedly experienced a suicidal crisis. As a result, a friend or an acquaintance had reached out to the Mesa Police Department, leading to officers conducting a welfare check. By the end of the incident, Kayden had died, having been shot by the police officers, alleging that Clarke had threatened them with a knife In a tragic irony, Kayden died by the very individuals whose official stated goal was to check on his well- being. What led Kayden to his crisis was his health provider’s decision to deny access to gender-affirming care for his transition because of his diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome. Kayden is not alone in any of the various identities that made his life unique and irreplaceable as a human being. Almost half of the people that die at the hands of police have been reported as having some kind of disability.