Transgendered Day of Remembrance.

[Memento]

November 20th is a day to honor the lives of transgendered people who were lost to violent acts of murder or suicide. It means more to me now more than ever because I'm not only trans, but because I'm in a wheelchair and was very nearly another statistic. I don't think it's a secret anymore, nor should it be, but I attempted suicide on June 1st of this year.

But this is not about me. This is about remembering and honoring the lives of those who were lost.

For those who died to violent acts.

For those who felt there was no way out.

For those who are still struggling.

Please light a candle to remember them. Because they were people as well, and people still are fighting to be recognized for who they are.

 

[Mackeyser]

Will do. Keep fighting, Champ.

 

[CodeMonkey]

I can't imagine what it's like. I really can't. But I know it hurts. My heart goes out. Thanks for opening up, mem. I'm glad to be your friend and a part of the oasis that is ROD!!!

Go RAMS!

 

[Memento]

From Wikipedia, the known list of unlawfully killed transgendered people this year:

• Papi Edwards of Indianapolis Indiana, and Louisville, Kentucky, died of a single bullet wound to the chest at Fern Valley Motel on 9 January. Henry Richard Gleaves was arrested for Papi's murder and is being held on a $500,000 bond. The Advocate, among other media sources, originally reported that Papi Edwards identified as a gay man answering to Lamar and/or Goddess, who likely participated in drag.[46] It has since been confirmed by others close to Papi, and reported by various sources that Edwards identified as a female.[47][48]

• Lamia Beard of Norfolk, Virginia, was found with life-threatening gunshot wounds on the morning of 17 January. She was taken to the Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, where she died.[49]

• Ty Underwood of Tyler, Texas, was found in her car, dead from three gunshot wounds, on 26 January. Her roommate feels she may have been targeted because she was a transgender woman.[50]

• Yazmin Vash Payne of Van Nuys, California, was found stabbed and burned to death in her apartment on 31 January. The following day her boyfriend confessed to the murder and surrendered to police.[51]

• Taja DeJesus was stabbed to death in San Francisco, California, on 3 February 2015. She was 36 years old. The man believed to have stabbed her, James Hays 49, was found dead hanging a short distance away.[52]

• Penny Proud of New Orleans, Louisiana, was fatally shot multiple times on 10 February.[53]

• Bri Golec of Akron, Ohio, was stabbed to death by her father, Kevin Golic, on 13 February 2015.[54] Bri was 22 years old. According to a bandmate, Brian dropped the trans identifier about a year ago. He now identified as an androgynous pansexual man. His father called 911 after the stabbing claiming it was "the cult" that had broken in and stabbed Brian. The cult he referred to is believed to be a local trans support group. Police determined that no one had broken in. Kevin Golic is being charged with murder and felony domestic violence.[55]

• Kristina Gomez Reinwald of Miami, Florida, was found dead in her apartment on 15 February. She was 46 years old. The case was initially considered a suicide, but news broke on 19 February that police are now treating it as homicide.[56]

• Sumaya Dalmar of Toronto, Canada, was found dead on 22 February. She was 26 years old.[57]

• Keyshia Blige, a 33-year-old from Montgomery, Illinois, was killed 7 March 2015. Blige was shot while driving and crashed while attempting to drive herself to the hospital. "Police declined to comment on the motive for the shooting, but described it as "not random."[58] Though she had performed for many years under the name, Blige just started transitioning in January 2015. "Stiff's mother said, though her [child] had begun taking the hormones in January, already she noticed a new glow to [her] skin."[58] Blige's performances "gravitated toward old-school songs by powerhouse artists like Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston, with some modern hits by Rihanna and Beyoncé."[58] Blige was reported as male in the news.[59]

• Vanessa Santillan, a 33-year-old from Miami, Florida, was fatally beaten on the head and neck in an apartment in Fulham, London, England on March 28, after responding to a neighbor's phone call.[60]

• Mya Hall, a twenty-seven-year-old transgender woman from Baltimore, Maryland, was killed by police on Monday, March 30, after taking a wrong turn in a stolen SUV and crashing into a security post on the National Security Agency's campus.[61] Police assumed that the accident was a terrorist attack and immediately opened fire on Hall and her companion, Brittany Fleming, aged twenty. Fleming survived.

• London Chanel, a 21-year-old, died May 18 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after being fatally stabbed in the back and neck by Raheam Felton, who was the boyfriend of one of her roommates.[62]

• Mercedes Williamson, a 17-year-old from Alabama was killed in George County, Mississippi, by Josh Vallum. Her body was found June 2 after Vallum told his father about the murder.[63]

• Jasmine Collins was stabbed to death in Kansas City on June 23.[64]

• Ashton O'Hara, 25 years old, was found murdered in a Detroit field on July 14. Ashton went by male pronouns and identified as genderfluid and transgender.[65]

• India Clarke, 25 years old, was found dead in a Tampa, Florida, park on July 21. She died due to blunt force trauma and her death is being investigated as a murder.[66]

• K.C. Haggard, 66 years old, stabbed in the neck from a vehicle in Fresno, California, on July 23.[67]

• Shade Schuler, 22-year-old woman of color, found in a field in Dallas, Texas, on July 29. There are no leads on the murder as Ms. Shade's body was so badly decomposed when found that it took two weeks to identify her. [68]

• Amber Monroe, 20 years old, shot in Detroit, Michigan, on August 8. This was her third time being shot, but her fear of the police kept her from reporting other times.[69]

• Kandis Capri, 35, was shot in Phoenix, Arizona, on August 11.[70]

• Elisha Walker‍ 's body was found in a shallow grave in Johnston County, North Carolina, on August 15. She had been reported missing a year before.[71]

• Tamara Dominguez aged 36 of Kansas City, Missouri, was run over by an SUV truck multiple times on 16 August at 3am local time.[72] Dominguez's brother, Alberto, offered forgiveness to the person who ran over Tamara during the argument which killed her: "We are not here to judge nobody, and he (Alberto) hopes that person really feels bad for what he did."[73]

• Fernanda 'Coty' Olmos aged 59 of Santa Cruz, Argentina was found in her Alfonso home stabbed and shot to death on September 25, 2015. Area neighbors and media believe "the brutality of the murder suggests that this is a transphobic crime, a femicide against a transgender woman." Coty was fondly remembered for her "charitable work during the dramatic floods" that hit Sante Fe in 2003.[74]

• Kiesha Jenkins, aged 22 of North Philadelphia, was beaten and shot by five to six men after getting out of a car.[75] Jenkins was a student at Temple University after gradating from Benjamin Franklin High School. "In her spare time, [Jenkins] enjoyed drawing and designing tattoos for friends" and eventually hoped to become a graphic designer, according to her family. Jenkins' family described as her "'comfortable' in her own skin, artistic and meticulous about fashion" who was a loving caregiver to her grandmother and other family members.[76]

• Marcela Estefania Chocobar aged 26 of Tartagal was found murdered in Santa Cruz, Argentina.[77] Chocobar was a transgender activist in Argentina who went missing for several days before her remains were found. Her body was so badly burned and dismembered that her identity had to be verified by DNA.[78]

• Amancay Diana Sacayán aged 40 of Flores, Buenos Aires, Argentina 13 October.[79] Sacayán was a prominent transgender activist who served on the board of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association and was a leader of Argentina's Antidiscrimination Liberation Movement.[80] She was found in her apartment with multiple stab wounds. Her death is being investigated as a hate crime.[80]

• Zella Ziona, aged 21 of Maryland, was shot to death on the 15th of October in Montgomery County.[81] Ziona was a graduate Seneca Valley High School who was a "talented artist" who also worked as a caregiver in an assisted-living facility.[82]

• Yoshi Tsuchida (aged 38) of Fussa City area, Tokyo, Japan, was discovered wrapped in a blanket at his apartment on November 12, 2015. Police reported that Tsuchida's face had been sliced off with a sharp instrument. Tsuchida's body was discovered by his roommate, who also identified as his adopted son.[83]

• Vicky Thompson (aged 21) was found unresponsive in the all-male Leeds Prison in Armley, West Yorkshire on Friday, November 13, 2015. According to Thompson's friends, she requested to be sent to a prison for women as she "had identified as female since her mid-teens." Thompson's attorney noted the prison was aware that she was a "vulnerable transgender woman." She was pronounced dead at 8:48 PM after resuscitation efforts failed. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will conduct an investigation into Thompson's death.[84]

 

[Dodgersrf]

Just remember. For every close minded, backward thinking human, there are thousands more that are caring and tolerant.

Just be you. And be proud of it.

 

[LesBaker]

@Dodgersrf says it best.