Remembering Our Dead

( – promoted by Robyn)

The people listed inside have three things in common…and maybe more.  First of all, they are all dead and have died since last November 20.  Secondly, they are all transwomen.  Thirdly, they died as a result of nothing more than intense hatred.  One only needs to survey the causes of death to verify that.  In many cases, the rage that the murderer must have had is evident in the number of stab wounds, the dismemberment or other mutilation evident on the bodies, or the execution that clearly had taken place (please note how many had been shot in the head).

I provide this list, cribbed from this site, not to be a downer…though it sure brings me down…but to honor their lives and the courage it took to live them.

Tomorrow is Transgender Day of Remembrance.  We will not forget.

Brenda

Location:  Rome, Italy

Cause of Death:  Smoke inhalation

Date of Death:  November 20, 2009

Sources:  ADN Kronos International

BBC

ADN Kronos International

ADN Kronos International

Brenda, who was Brazillian, worked as a prostitute, according to Italian media, and one of her customers was the governor of the Lazio region, Piero Marrazzo.  Many people think she was killed to silence her.  She died from smoke inhalation to death when her apartment was set on fire with her in it.  Her laptop was found to have been submerged in water before the fire.

——–

Wanchai Tongwijit

Location:  Wichit, Phuket City, Thailand

Cause of Death:  Shot in head

Date of Death:  November 21, 2009

She was 35 years old.

Source:  Phuket Gazette

I invite you to Made for Flight, a transgender youth and ally empowerment project funded by Every Voice in Action.  Wanchai had a kite made in her memory there, as did many of these victims.

——–

Mariah Malina Qualls

Location: San Francisco, California

Cause of Death: Blunt force trauma to the head.

Date of Death: December 9, 2009

Mariah was 23 years old.

Source:  KTVU

Mariah was a volunteer for the community in both San Francisco and San Jose.

——–

Estrella (Jose Angel) Venegas

Location:  Mexicali, Mexico

Cause of Death:  Shot in the chest and forehead

Date of Death:  December 13, 2009

Estrella was 32 years old.

Source:  Estrella’s brother.

——–

Wong

LOcation: Bernama, Malaysia

Cause of Death:  Wong had stab wounds in the right side of the stomach and the left side of the chest, plus bruises in the right hand.

Date of Death:  January 2, 2010

Wong was 64 years old.

Source:  Link

In Malaysia, transpeople are neither male nor female, but rather live in legal limbo.  It is estimated that there are 100,000 transsexual people in Malaysia (i.e. >1 out of every 200 people in the country).

——–

Myra Chanel Ical

Location:  Houston, Texas

Cause of Death:  Many wounds and defensive bruises.

Date of Death:  January 18, 2010

Myra was 59 years old.

Source:  Fox-Houston

I wrote about this in Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happinefs

Myra Chanel Ical’s life was deemed not worthy of continuation, by someone unknown.  And after her life was taken, Houston police and media thought it was appropriate to destroy her dignity as well.

——–

Derya Y.

Location:  Antalya, Turkey

Cause of Death:  Stabbed to death

Date of Death:  February 8, 2010

Derya was 35 years old.

Source:  Bianet

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Fevzi Yener (nickname – Aycan)

Location: Sehremin, Istanbul, Turkey

Cause of Death: Stabbed 17 times

Date of Death: February 16, 2010

No age was reported.

Source:  Istanbul LGBTT

Seventeen times.  Apparently the perp didn’t want any doubt about how he felt.

——–

Amanda Gonzalez-Andujar

Location:  Queens, New York

Cause of Death:  Strangulation

Date of Death:  March 27, 2010

Amanda was 29 years old.

Source:  NY Daily News

I mentioned that in passing in Transdimensional News.  It was proceded by this:

Jared Polis says that an inclusive ENDA will come up for a vote in the next couple of weeks and will pass by a substantial margin…

Yeah, right.

——–

Unidentified transgender woman

Location:  Jakarta, Indonesia

Cause of Death:  Dismembered and mutilated

Date of Death:  estimated to be the last week of March.

Source:  Jakarta Post

——–

Unidentified transgender woman

Location: Chihuahua, Mexico

Cause of Death: Beheaded

Date of Death: April 3, 2010

Source:  Carla Antonelli

——–



Toni Alston

Location:  Charlotte, North Carolina

Cause of Death: shot to death

Date of Death: April 3, 2010

Toni was 44 years old.

Source:  Charlotte Observer

——–



Ashley Santiago Ocasio

Location: Corozal, Puerto Rico

Cause of Death: Stabbed to death

Date of Death: April 19, 2010

Ashley was 31 years old.

Source:  Edge-Ft. Lauderdale

——–

Azra

Location: Izmir, Turkey

Cause of Death: Shot in the back of the head

Date of Death: April 27, 2010

Azra was 30 years old.

Source:  IGLHRC

——–



Chanel (Dana A. Larkin)

Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Cause of Death: Shot in the head

Date of Death: May 7, 2010

Chanel was 26 years old.

Source:  Edge-Boston

——–

Unidentified transgender woman

Location:  San Cristobal, Dominican Republic

Cause of Death: Raped and shot 3 times

Date of Death: May 15, 2010

Source:  Transsadominicanal

El Nacional

——–

Angie Gonzalez Oquendo

Location: Caguas, Puerto Rico

Cause of Death: Strangled with an electrical cord

Date of Death: May 24, 2010

Angie was 38 years old.

Source:  Edge-Boston

——–

Sandy Woulard

Location:  Chicago, Illinois

Cause of Death:  Shot in the chest

Date of Death:  June 21, 2010

Sandy was 28 years old.

Source:  Chicago Sun Times (The victim was identified as Credale Woulard)

Edge-Los Angeles

——–

Roy Antonio Jones III

Location:  Southampton, NY

Cause of Death:  Punched repeatedly and grabbed by the neck

Date of Death: August 1, 2010

Roy was 16 Months old.

Note: 20 year old Pedro Jones told police he had struck the infant several times with a closed fist. Jones said he was “trying to make him act like a boy instead of a little girl.”

Source:  27East.com

Nobody is claiming that Roy was trransgender.  But he sure was a victim of gender bias.  Can anyone explain how a 16 month-old baby knows the difference between how a boy acts and how a girl acts?  Or how an adult determines the difference?

——–

Imperia Gamaniel Parson

Location: San Pedro Sula, Honduras

Cause of Death:  shot

Date of Death: August 30, 2010

Source:  Bikya Masr

——–

Gypsy

Location: Houston, Texas

Cause of Death: shot to death

Date of Death: September 6, 2010

Source:  Cristan Williams via the Houston Police Department

——–

Victoria Carmen White

Location: Maplewood, New Jersey

Cause of Death: shot

Date of Death: September 12, 2010

Victoria was 28 years old.

Sources:  Baristanet

News 12

——–

Justo Luis Gonzalez García

Location: Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico

Cause of Death: shot in the head

Date of Death September 13, 2010

Justo Luis was 34 years old.

This is 1 of the 2 transgender people found murdered, they were found together.  The second is unidentified.

Source:  GLAAD Blog

elnuevodia.com

——–

Unidentified person dressed in women’s clothes

Location: Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico

Cause of Death: shot in the head

Date of Death: September 13, 2010

This is 1 of the 2 transgender people found murdered, they were found together.

Source:  GLAAD Blog

elnuevodia.com

——–

Irem

Location: Bursa, Turkey

Cause of Death: Drowned in her apartment

Date of Death: September 20, 2010

Source:  Richard Köhler, Transgender Europe

——–

Stacey Lee aka Stacey Blahnik

Location Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Cause of Death:  unreported by police

Date of Death:  October 11, 2010

Stacey was 31 years old

Source:  Phill.com

Philly.com

——–

Unidentified person dressed in women’s clothes

Location:  Sheikhupura, Pakistan

Cause of Death: Brutally tortured and burned

Date of Death: November 6, 2010

Source:  The Express Tribune

——–

Unidentified Eunuch

Location:  Sheikhupura, Pakistan

Cause of Death:  Brutally tortured and burned

Date of Death: November 7, 2010

Source:  The Express Tribune

——–

Emanuelly Colaco Taborda

Location:  Parana, Brazil

Cause of Death:  Strangled

Date of Death:  November 9, 2010

She was 39 years old.

Source:  mixbrasil

8 comments

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    • Robyn on November 20, 2010 at 00:01
      Author

    …even in the progressive blogs, don’t always seem to get it.  Transsexual is not a sexual orientation, even though it is listed as part of GLBT.  Transsexual people may be gay, lesbian, bi or straight.  We are included because we are treated as being gay no matter what our orientation is.  But being transsexual is not about who we sleep with.  Rather it is about who we sleep as.

    The sexuality aspect comes about, on the one hand, the word has “sexual” in it…and on the other is linked to the fact that because we have no employment protection or equality, we are often reduced to trying to sell something in order to make a living.  I try to sell my art and would love to be able to sell my words as well.  People with less skill in these areas often do what poor people have done from the beginning of time:  sell their bodies to people who want them.  Prostitution is always popular.  There is always a market.

  1. I prefer the term gender variant.  Having said that, what would you prefer?

    As a gay man, I’m totally aware that it’s about more what’s in your head than “what’s between your legs” or even what’s between the legs of other people.  I don’t really like the term “homosexual” either because it implies that everything that a gay person is about is about sex, but it’s not.

    • Robyn on November 20, 2010 at 21:20
      Author

    426 reported killings of trans people worldwide since 2008

    One transperson killed every two days.  Previous estimates were one every 3 days.  Most of the murders are in Central and South America.

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