Lailani Muniz Arrested for Allegedly Soliciting a Minor

A trans woman who worked as an activist on HIV and trans rights was allegedly arrested for attempting to arrange a sexual encounter with a person she believed to be a 14-year-old child.

by Evan Urquhart

This is a hard post to write, but I want Assigned to be a news site, and to me that means covering the truth behind anti-trans propaganda, as best I can, even when the story being inflated by the right wing is true because a trans person is alleged to have done something terrible.

I had never heard of Lailani Muniz before reading about her having been arrested, but she does appear to either be or have been until recently an activist for HIV and trans rights based in the Bronx, NY. Muniz allegedly arranged what she intended to be a sexual encounter a 14-year-old boy, but who was an adult posing as a child, unbeknownst to Muniz. This story does not seem to have been covered widely by the mainstream media, so I will link to the Fox News story as a reasonably straight recounting of what I understand to be an accurate news item.

The story is seeing fairly wide coverage on right wing media, who are seeking to portray Muniz’s aberrant behavior as typical of trans people. We will update if any details come to light that cast doubt on the veracity of the reporting in those sources, though we have no reason to doubt them as of this writing..

It shouldn’t have to be said, but Assigned considers the attempted sexual assault of a child to be a terrible crime, and would in no way condone or support or excuse any sort of violence against children.