The TV docu-series Too Fat to Transition follows two obese transgender people who were told they had to lose a significant amount of weight in order to qualify for gender-reassignment surgery. The episode brings to mind the life and death of Kayla Moore, a black transgender woman who was 347 pounds and diagnosed with schizophrenia.
In February 2013, Moore’s roommate in Berkeley, California called 911 and said Moore was “violent” and needed to be “5150’d,” which refers to a law that allows police to take a person into custody for a mental health crisis. While trying to take Moore into custody, the police officers at the scene saw that Moore had stopped breathing. One of the officers tried to resuscitate Moore with a protective CPR mask or “spit hood.” Moore died. Moore’s father filed a wrongful death lawsuit claiming the officers used excessive force and could have saved his child if they used mouth-to-mouth resuscitation without a CPR mask. On October 14, 2016, a judge dismissed Arthur Moore’s lawsuit and allegations of excessive force. The Too Fat to Transition episode “Transgender & Obese” airs Thursday, December 29 at 9pm on TLC.
Rest in power, Kayla Moore. https://t.co/JJj3klP4Bf pic.twitter.com/Yqz04wPAze
— Berkeley Copwatch (@Copwatch411) September 1, 2016
