Kathryn Newhouse: Trans FilAm with autism killed by her father

She was proud of her Filipino heritage. Facebook Photo

A transgender Filipina American from Georgia was shot dead in her home by her father who later turned the gun on himself, according to law enforcement.

Kathryn Newhouse has been described in the Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents website as “a 19-year-old Asian-American autistic trans woman living with mental illness issues.” Reports identified the father as Howard Newhouse, 57. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting further that the mother was home when the incident, where both father and daughter ended up dead, happened on March 19.

She was a Northbrook, Illinois native until the family moved to Georgia in 2020.

According to PLC, “Kathryn was a Minecraft and UberSpire enthusiast, an advocate for trans rights, had a bright smile, enjoyed changing up her hair styles, and attentive to world events. She enjoyed hiking and sightseeing. She was proud of her AAPI heritage; she was of Filipino heritage. She believed in the credo: Model best behavior in your own sphere, break down stereotypes, and speak out.”

A candlelight vigil was held this week to honor Kathryn, described by a friend as “a real sweetheart.”  No member of the family attended the vigil.

“In no circumstances is a father murdering his own daughter acceptable or understandable or a solution. It is murder,” writes the PLC.

Human Rights Watch, citing court records, says Kathryn’s father was previously arrested for assaulting her in 2019 when she was 16. “In 2019, Howard Newhouse was accused of ‘intentionally or without provocation’ causing physical pain and harm to his daughter at their home by ‘holding her down on a bed by her throat.’ Records show the father was arrested by deputies for a misdemeanor charge of simple battery, described as family violence.”

Adds HRW: “Newhouse’s death is at least the eighth violent killing of a transgender or gender non-conforming person reported in 2022.

“We say ‘at least’ because too often these deaths go unreported — or misreported. In 2021, despite limitations in reporting, HRC officially recorded the largest number of fatal trans violence incidents for a second consecutive year since we began tracking this violence in 2013.

“A report by the HRC (Human Rights Campaign) Foundation, “An Epidemic of Violence 2021,” found that between 2013 and 2021, approximately two thirds of transgender and gender non-conforming people with known killers had their lives taken by an acquaintance, friend, family member or intimate partner.”



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