We posted information about a transgender contingent in the LA Pride Parade. They transfolks & allies were going to march behind a banner which read "How Many Transgenders Have To Die Before You Get Involved?". The reason for this is because there are a discusting about of murders in the community, and very little support from the gay community, straight folks, or law enforcement. Someone responded to this post with this comment: "8" meaning, of course, that 8 transpeople have to die before s/he gets involved. I am hereby proiding a list with far more than 8 people, and if anyone knows this person who posts under the name "Lexi", please let him or her know that we have lot of work to be done and any help would be appreciated.
Here's an abbreviated list. I'm pretty sure that if this was a list of blacks being lynched, we'd respond as a community... Why is this different?
Gwen Araujo
Location: Newark, California
Cause of Death: Beaten to death, allegedly by four ex-classmates.
Date of Death: October 3, 2002
Source: San Francisco Chronicle, October 17, 2002
Gwen Araujo had been dressing as a woman since she was 14 years old, and was murdered at the age of 17. During a house party, she was revealed to have been more a male. After this revelation, at least three individuals allegedly beat her, dragged her into a garage, and strangled her, before disposing of her body in a remote location 150 miles away.
Ontwon Curtis
Location: Newport News, Virginia
Cause of Death: Shot several times in the chest
Date of Death: September 13, 2002
Source: WVEC Channel 13, September 13, 2002
Ontwon Curtis, who neighbors claim was a transvestite, was shot several times in the chest while at home. Andrew Coleman has been arrested in this crime, and is awaiting trial.
Daniel Phillip "Danielle" Redding
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Cause of Death: Single gunshot wound to the head, allegedly by Jason Lee Starkey
Date of Death: September 7, 2002
Source: Daytona Beach News-Journal, September 23, 2002
Daniel Phillip "Danielle" Redding worked at a hair salon by day, and as a sex worker in the evening. He was found face down with a bullet hole in his head in a vacant lot near a church. The alleged killer, Jason Lee Starkey, was shot and killed two weeks later.
Porfiro Mejia (aka Daisey, Flora Blanca)
Location: Delano, California
Cause of Death: Blunt force trauma to the head.
Date of Death: August 20, 2002
Source: The Bakersfield Californian, October 25, 2002
Little is known about this death. Mejia, a transwoman, used to frequent some of the bars in the Delano area. She was found in a grape vineyard just south of Delano.
Stephanie Thomas
Location: Washington, DC
Cause of Death: Shot multiple times
Date of Death: August 12, 2002
Source: WJLA ABC 7, Washington, DC
Stephanie and Ukea were friends living in Washington, D.C., and had begun living in their preferred gender roles. Both were shot multiple times in a car they often shared. They were half a block away from home.
Ukea Davis
Location: Washington, DC
Cause of Death: Shot multiple times
Date of Death: August 12, 2002
Source: WJLA ABC 7, Washington, DC
Deasha (Gerald Andrews)
Location: Jacksonville, Florida
Cause of Death: Shot multiple times
Date of Death: August 8, 2002
Source: WLTV 12, Jacksonville, Florida
Deasha Andrews was discovered in her car, after having been shot several times. Police are not pursuing this as a hate crime, and do not feel that there is any tie-in between it and the Terrianne Summers case.
Paola Matos
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Cause of Death: Strangled
Date of Death: July 22, 2002
Source: The New York Post, July 23, 2002
Paola Matos had recently moved to New York after a series of transsexual-related surgeries done abroad. She was discovered in her home by her live-in boyfriend with a white cord wrapped around her throat. Police have ruled her death a homicide, and are seeking a suspect, Fernando Batista.
Aretha "ReRe" Scott (Franklin Freeman)
Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
Cause of Death: Bled to death after being shot in the leg
Date of Death: June 7, 2002
Source: The Charlotte Observer, June 30, 2002
Five months before Aretha Scott’s death, she was picked up by an off-duty vice officer, who fired his service pistol twice during an argument over money. The officer quit during an internal investigation. Another officer was fired, and two other officers were suspended. Scott was killed five days before she was to be a witness in a hearing about one of the suspensions. Very little has been done since them to apprehend her murderer.
Gary "Brazon" McMurtry
Location: Clintonville, Ohio
Cause of Death: Stabbed, allegedly by Michael Jennings
Date of Death: May 17, 2002
Source: Columbus Dispatch, May 18, 2002
Gary "Brazon" McMurtry, Miss Gay Columbus and Miss Gay Ohio, was stabbed with a Samurai sword, allegedly by Michael Jennings. A roommate was also stabbed by the assailant.
Arlene (Hector) Diaz
Location: El Paso, Texas
Cause of Death: Shot in the back, allegedly by Justen Grant Hall
Date of Death: April 10, 2002
Source: El Paso Times, April 27, 2002
Arlene (Hector) Diaz was planning her upcoming transition, and attended a local transgender support group the night of her murder. She was fatally shot in the back, allegedly by Justen Grant Hall. The local police have classified this murder as a hate crime.
Alejandro Ray Lucero
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Cause of Death: Murdered
Date of Death: March 3, 2002
Source: Phoenix, Arizona police report
Little is known about the death of Alejandro Ray Lucero, aside from the fact that she was murdered in Phoenix, and her body was dumped in the alley.
Amy Soos
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Cause of Death: Murdered
Date of Death: February 16, 2002
Source: Phoenix, Arizona police report
Amy Soos lived all her life on the Salt River Pima Indian Reservation in Arizona, but often went into Phoenix in the evenings. After not returning home one such night, her body was discovered in a roadway. She died of multiple blunt force trauma. She had been beaten many other times before her death.
Bibi Barajas (Hugo Cesar Barajas)
Location: Houston, Texas
Cause of Death: Shot multiple times
Date of Death: January 26, 2002
Source: KTRK News and Vanessa Foster
Bibi Barajas was a sex worker in Houston, after coming over the border from Mexico. She is believed to have been killed by some of her customers, who dumped her body near a local club.
Terrianne Summers
Location: Jacksonville, Florida
Cause of Death: Shot
Date of Death: December 12, 2001
Source: Florida Times-Union, December 14, 2001
Terrianne Summers was a transgender activist in the Jacksonville area, who had been very involved in efforts against discrimination at the Winn-Dixie food chain. She was shot to death on her own front yard days after participating in the 2001 Transgender Day of Remembrance in Florida.
Gwen Araujo
Location: Newark, California
Cause of Death: Beaten to death, allegedly by four ex-classmates.
Date of Death: October 3, 2002
Source: San Francisco Chronicle, October 17, 2002
Gwen Araujo had been dressing as a woman since she was 14 years old, and was murdered at the age of 17. During a house party, she was revealed to have been more a male. After this revelation, at least three individuals allegedly beat her, dragged her into a garage, and strangled her, before disposing of her body in a remote location 150 miles away.
Ontwon Curtis
Location: Newport News, Virginia
Cause of Death: Shot several times in the chest
Date of Death: September 13, 2002
Source: WVEC Channel 13, September 13, 2002
Ontwon Curtis, who neighbors claim was a transvestite, was shot several times in the chest while at home. Andrew Coleman has been arrested in this crime, and is awaiting trial.
Daniel Phillip "Danielle" Redding
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Cause of Death: Single gunshot wound to the head, allegedly by Jason Lee Starkey
Date of Death: September 7, 2002
Source: Daytona Beach News-Journal, September 23, 2002
Daniel Phillip "Danielle" Redding worked at a hair salon by day, and as a sex worker in the evening. He was found face down with a bullet hole in his head in a vacant lot near a church. The alleged killer, Jason Lee Starkey, was shot and killed two weeks later.
Porfiro Mejia (aka Daisey, Flora Blanca)
Location: Delano, California
Cause of Death: Blunt force trauma to the head.
Date of Death: August 20, 2002
Source: The Bakersfield Californian, October 25, 2002
Little is known about this death. Mejia, a transwoman, used to frequent some of the bars in the Delano area. She was found in a grape vineyard just south of Delano.
Stephanie Thomas
Location: Washington, DC
Cause of Death: Shot multiple times
Date of Death: August 12, 2002
Source: WJLA ABC 7, Washington, DC
Stephanie and Ukea were friends living in Washington, D.C., and had begun living in their preferred gender roles. Both were shot multiple times in a car they often shared. They were half a block away from home.
Ukea Davis
Location: Washington, DC
Cause of Death: Shot multiple times
Date of Death: August 12, 2002
Source: WJLA ABC 7, Washington, DC
Deasha (Gerald Andrews)
Location: Jacksonville, Florida
Cause of Death: Shot multiple times
Date of Death: August 8, 2002
Source: WLTV 12, Jacksonville, Florida
Deasha Andrews was discovered in her car, after having been shot several times. Police are not pursuing this as a hate crime, and do not feel that there is any tie-in between it and the Terrianne Summers case.
Paola Matos
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Cause of Death: Strangled
Date of Death: July 22, 2002
Source: The New York Post, July 23, 2002
Paola Matos had recently moved to New York after a series of transsexual-related surgeries done abroad. She was discovered in her home by her live-in boyfriend with a white cord wrapped around her throat. Police have ruled her death a homicide, and are seeking a suspect, Fernando Batista.
Aretha "ReRe" Scott (Franklin Freeman)
Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
Cause of Death: Bled to death after being shot in the leg
Date of Death: June 7, 2002
Source: The Charlotte Observer, June 30, 2002
Five months before Aretha Scott’s death, she was picked up by an off-duty vice officer, who fired his service pistol twice during an argument over money. The officer quit during an internal investigation. Another officer was fired, and two other officers were suspended. Scott was killed five days before she was to be a witness in a hearing about one of the suspensions. Very little has been done since them to apprehend her murderer.
Gary "Brazon" McMurtry
Location: Clintonville, Ohio
Cause of Death: Stabbed, allegedly by Michael Jennings
Date of Death: May 17, 2002
Source: Columbus Dispatch, May 18, 2002
Gary "Brazon" McMurtry, Miss Gay Columbus and Miss Gay Ohio, was stabbed with a Samurai sword, allegedly by Michael Jennings. A roommate was also stabbed by the assailant.
Arlene (Hector) Diaz
Location: El Paso, Texas
Cause of Death: Shot in the back, allegedly by Justen Grant Hall
Date of Death: April 10, 2002
Source: El Paso Times, April 27, 2002
Arlene (Hector) Diaz was planning her upcoming transition, and attended a local transgender support group the night of her murder. She was fatally shot in the back, allegedly by Justen Grant Hall. The local police have classified this murder as a hate crime.
Alejandro Ray Lucero
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Cause of Death: Murdered
Date of Death: March 3, 2002
Source: Phoenix, Arizona police report
Little is known about the death of Alejandro Ray Lucero, aside from the fact that she was murdered in Phoenix, and her body was dumped in the alley.
Amy Soos
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Cause of Death: Murdered
Date of Death: February 16, 2002
Source: Phoenix, Arizona police report
Amy Soos lived all her life on the Salt River Pima Indian Reservation in Arizona, but often went into Phoenix in the evenings. After not returning home one such night, her body was discovered in a roadway. She died of multiple blunt force trauma. She had been beaten many other times before her death.
Bibi Barajas (Hugo Cesar Barajas)
Location: Houston, Texas
Cause of Death: Shot multiple times
Date of Death: January 26, 2002
Source: KTRK News and Vanessa Foster
Bibi Barajas was a sex worker in Houston, after coming over the border from Mexico. She is believed to have been killed by some of her customers, who dumped her body near a local club.
Terrianne Summers
Location: Jacksonville, Florida
Cause of Death: Shot
Date of Death: December 12, 2001
Source: Florida Times-Union, December 14, 2001
Terrianne Summers was a transgender activist in the Jacksonville area, who had been very involved in efforts against discrimination at the Winn-Dixie food chain. She was shot to death on her own front yard days after participating in the 2001 Transgender Day of Remembrance in Florida.
http://www.gender.org/remember/day/
