Nonbinary Black Artist YOKO Killed in New Orleans

YOKO New Orelans Nonbinary

New Orleans based nonbinary artist YOKO was killed in a hit and run accident on September 19, 2023. They were 30 years old. The non-binary artist was killed Tuesday by a hit-and-run driver in Gentilly. New Orleans police said it happened just before 6 p.m. at Franklin and Fillmore avenues. Police said the victim was driving […]

Trans woman Geri Judd shot to death in September 2021, identity comes to light in March 2022

Geri Judd

Geri Judd, a transgender woman, was found shot to death on 28 September 2021 in her apartment in Bossier City, Louisiana. Her death has just come to light because her gender identity was not adequately noted or reported. According to HRC, the Bossier City Police Department found Judd’s body during a welfare check on September 28, […]

Two Additional BIPOC Trans Women Died in 2021

Rubi Dominguez and Keeva Scatter

PinkNews and TransGriot join the HRC in shining a light on the deaths of two trans women of color, both during 2021 and but only now coming to light with robust details. On Friday July 16th in Arlington TX, Arlington police were called to the 2100 block of N. Collins Street around 3:30am to find […]

21-Year-Old Black Trans Woman Shot to Death in Baton Rouge

Fifty Bandzzz

She was 21 when her 20-year-old boyfriend shot her multiple times inside a parked car in Baton Rouge. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Law enforcement and media are using her deadname and misgendering her, but friends on social media say she was known as Fifty Bandz. Her name was spelled various ways across […]

34 Reasons to Vote on Tuesday

This year, an unprecedented 34 transgender and non-binary neighbors have lost their lives to transphobic violence.As I completed my ballot earlier this month, I whispered their names. When I write a new memorial post, I carefully read the list and say their names exhorting them to wrap their arms around the most recently lost neighbor.Joe […]

UPDATED: Trans Woman Sara Blackwood Killed in Indianapolis on National Coming Out Day 2020

  An Indianapolis trans woman named Sara Blackwood is the latest victim of gun violence in the United States. She was shot to death walking home from work on National Coming Out Day, October 11 around 10 PM. From Fox 59 in Indianapolis According to police, the shooting occurred in the 2500 block of E. […]

Black Trans Woman Brooklyn DeShauna Smith, 20, Killed in Shreveport, Louisiana

Brooklyn DeShauna Smith

  It has happened again. On Wednesday, October 7, 2020, the body of Brooklyn DeShauna Smith was discovered at 2:15 in the afternoon in a Shreveport, Louisiana apartment complex. Cause of death was gun shot. Brooklyn was a 20-year-old Black trans woman. Brooklyn was born and raised in Shreveport. She studied cosmetology at Bossier Parish […]

24-Year-Old Black Trans Woman Kee Sam Murdered in Louisiana in August

Kia Sam Transgender Woman

In August, a Black trans woman known as Kee Sam was murdered. She was 24 years old according to sources on Facebook. She was a native of Lafayette, Louisiana where she was killed, but had recently relocated to Baton Rouge. Her death is the 30th we’ve reported on this year, far outpacing previous years. According […]

Chris, 22, is a Gay Man Who is Out, Proud, and Never Looking Back #AMPLIFY

Gay White Man Pittsburgh

Tell me about the first LGBTQ person whom you met. What impact did they have on your life?

I was scared of him. I was only ten so I believed the lies I’d heard of the LGBTQ community. As I grew, that fear turned into pride and a desire to never hide myself away again. He lost almost everybody when he came out, and I want to be part of the generation that ensures that never happens to anybody ever again. I suppose it’s also my way to apologize to him, since I can’t do it in person.

Vontashia Bell, 18, is the 18th Trans Neighbor Reported Murdered in the US in 2018

Vontasia Bell

Of course it is just 24 hours after I wrote about the murder of De’Janay Stanton that I am back at the keyboard blogging about another murder of a Black trans woman, this time an 18-year-old Vontashia Bell in Shreveport, Louisiana.  And my heart is broken for a second time in two days. She was […]