Never Forget

Transgender Day Of Remembrance: Paying Tribute To 10 Victims of Violence

No jokes today—it’s International Transgender Day Of Remembrance, when we recall those who have been lost to violence simply because of their gender identity or gender expression. Our plan had been to profile several victims from this year, but we were shocked by their sheer number (more than 200 in 2011 alone). Also disturbing is how few of these crimes have been solved, how many of the victims were trans women of color, and how much mainstream coverage focused on the victim’s gender and possible links to illicit activities.

Today we recount just some of these tragic losses, but we pray for all the members of the global trans community who have been attacked or murdered.

 

Chrissie Bates, 45
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Died: January 11, 2011

Chrissie Bates was stabbed to death in her downtown Minneapolis apartment on January 11, the city’s first homicide of the year. Arnold Darwin Waukazo, who was allegedly dating Bates, was arrested for her murder several days later and, as of November 8, is currently on trial.

Bates’ death was caused by “complex homicidal violence,” according to the medical examiner’s office, referring to the variety and number of her wounds. “In LGBT homicide, it’s common to see overkill,” said researcher Dallas Drake. “Excessive wounding, more injury than what is necessary to cause the death… When you see overkill it typically points toward an intimate-partner killing.”

 

 

Briget Makaligton, 25 (?)
Location: Comayagüela City, Honduras
Died: January 7, 2011

Makalington, who strangled to death by an unknown assailant, was one of six trans women killed in a two-month period near the start of 2011. The attacks, which ranged from shootings to stonings, took place in urban areas including the capital, Tegucigalpa, as well as Comayagüela and San Pedro Sula. Human rights groups say that, since January 2010, there have been more than 50 murders of LGBT people in the country, which has one of the highest murder rates in the world.

 

 


Tyra Trent, 25
Location: Baltimore, MD
Died: February 19, 2011

Tyra Trent, 25, was a trans sex worker found strangled to death in the basement of an empty apartment building in Baltimore. She had been reported missing two weeks prior, although sources say it wasn’t unusual for her to spend a few days at a time away from her mother’s home. Born Anthony Trent, Tyra was in the process of legally changing her name and getting her GED.

 

Marcal Camero Tye, 25
Location: Forrest City, Arkansas
Died: March 8, 2011

After the body of trans woman Marcal Camero Tye was discovered on the Arizona highway having been shot and dragged behind a car 300 feet, the St. Francis County Sheriff’s department insisted her death wasn’t a hate crime. “Though Sheriff Bobby May says he hasn’t ruled out anything, he believes this is a routine murder case and not a hate crime,” reported FM 89 News at the time, “he conjectured that Tye might have been out looking for sexual encounters at 2am., [and] then gotten involved in a liaison that somehow went bad.”

Oh that’s all? What a relief.

 

 

Priscila Brandão
Location: Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Trans woman Priscila Brandão was shot seven times in the back of the head, execution-style, in a grisly murder captured on surveillance cameras. Her killing—which is still unsolved—was followed by the murder of another Belo Horizonte trans woman (“travesti” in Brazilian Portuguese), just 20 hours later.  Despite its reputation as a gay-friendly destination, Brazil has one of the highest murder rates of LGBT people in the world.


Lashai Mclean, 23

Location: Washington, D.C.
Died: July 20, 2011

At 4:30 am on a Wednesday morning, Lashai McLean was shot in the back just a few blocks from the LGBT-youth shelter McLean had been staying at in Northeast DC. A vigil was held days after her death and though police interrogated two suspects, no arrests have been made in the case. At least Washington, DC, Mayor Vincent Gray had the right reaction: “Every homicide in the District of Columbia is a tragedy for which the perpetrators must be brought to swift justice,” he told reporters. “However, if the investigation concludes that this shooting was the result of bias based on sexual orientation or gender identity… my administration will see that there is an appropriate response to this kind of violence, which cannot be tolerated.”

 

 

Camila Guzman, 38
Location:
New York, NY
Died: August 1, 2011

Camila Guzman, who came from Chile to New York in 2002, was stabbed repeatedly in her back by Equan Southall, her 25-year-old-boyfriend who had previously been arrested for grand larceny and possession of a concealed weapon. Southall was arrested and plead guilty to murder charges.

 

 

Ramazan Çetin, 24
Location: Gaziantep, Turkey
Died: October 6, 2011

After a bad fall Çetin was at a local hospital seeking treatment, when her brother, Fevzi, barged in and shot her three times in front of witnesses. When he turned himself in to authorities later the same day, he calmly stated, “My brother was engaged in travestism. I killed him. I cleaned my honor!”

Hopefully that’s now how the legal system will see it.

 


Shelley Hilliard, 19
Location: Detroit, Michigan
Died: October 23, 2011 
Hilliard’s death
was one of the most gruesome we can recall in recent history, especially considering how young she was: After she was strangled to death, Hilliard’s body was decapitated, dismembered and set on fire. Her mother could only identify Hilliard’s mutilated corpse by the tattoos on her arm.

 

Cassidy Vickers, 32
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Died: November 17, 2011

Just last week near the intersection of Lexington Avenue and Gower Street in Hollywood, Cassidy Vickers was shot in the chest by an unknown assailant and died. Nearly an hour later, the same assailant is believed to have shot another black trans woman. No suspects have been found so far.

 

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