Kandis Capri Murdered in Phoenix, 3rd TWOC Death Reported This Week

Kandis Capri transgender

Late late night, I learned from my Facebook friend Monica Jones that a trans woman had been killed in Phoenix. Her name was Kandis Capri and she was 35 years old. Few details are available, but an account in The Guardian describes a domestic altercation involving Kandis’ housemate. Note, the Guardian interviews her mother who […]

Andre Gray Would Be 35 This Saturday #StoryOfHisLife

Pittsburgh Bisexual

  I can’t remember how we celebrated my 35th birthday (in 2005), but I’m relatively sure it involved dinner with Ledcat and probably my parents or friends. I’m sure there was cake and singing. Probably my then-coworkers gave me a card and treated me to lunch. The things that you do. Looking back, I’d tell […]

Update on the Murder of Candra Keels #SayHerName

Candra Keels

Domestic violence within the LGBTQ community is a taboo topic. Much like family based violence, it is something that we disregard and shoosh off to the side of the conversation around the epidemic of violence sweeping through our community, particularly among QTPOC. In January, a 20 year-old young woman of color named Candra Keels was […]

Arrest in the Murder of 25 Year Old Trans Woman India Clarke

India Clarke

India Clark’s friend Charles Thompson has mixed feelings about the arrest in the murder of his 25-year-old trans woman friend. “I’m not glad, because (India’s) gone,” he said. “But I’m glad they did investigate it and her life mattered enough for them to try to find who harmed her.” According to the Tampa Bay Times, […]

Mercedes Williamson 17 Year Old Trans Woman Murdered in Alabama

Mercedes Williamson

17. 17 is still a girl, a young woman. This 17 year old was an aspiring cosmetologist with people who cared about her. Yet at 17, Mercedes Williamson joins the ranks of trans women who have been murdered in the United States. According to The Advocate, Mercedes was estranged from her family and living with […]

Who Was Mike V?

Friday night, a small group of people took to the streets in Shadyside, displaying a banner that read “RIP Mike V.” Then some vandalism happened and I’ve spent most of the day fielding inquiries about Mike, anarchists and vandalism. What would he think? (I don’t know.) Who is behind this? (Don’t know that, either.) Do […]

Arrest in the Murder of Pgh Bisexual Man of Color, Andre Gray

Andre Gray

Yesterday came word that the Pittsburgh Police have charged 30-year-old Hubert Wingate with the murder of Andre Gray. Andre was 34 years old and a resident of Lawrenceville when he went missing from his apartment in October 2014. His body was discovered in the Ohio River in late March and his funeral was this past […]

22 Year Old Ohio Trans Woman Stabbed to Death By Father

Bri Golec

22-year-old Bri Golec has recently returned to a transgender support group in the Akron, Ohio area. She had participated a few years ago, then stopped attending. Recently, she began to more assertively explore her gender identity. Sadly, Bri will not have the chance to continue her journey after an altercation with her father,  Kevin Golec, […]

Penny Proud of New Orleans is Fifth Trans Woman of Color Killed in 2015

Penny Proud

This time of year, Mardi Gras and New Orleans are in my mind – I lived in Louisiana for three years in the early nineties. I was terribly saddened (and angry) to learn that another trans sister of color has lost her life to violence in New Orleans. Earlier today, police found the body of […]

UPDATED: Trans Woman of Color Yazmin Vash Payne Murdered Near Los Angeles

transgender women

Note: this post has been updated to reflect the preferred name of the victim. Her name is Yazmin Vash Payne. She had previously been identified as Michell Vash Payne and alternately as Yasmine Payne. Some media outlets have posted her old name, but we will not do that. If you have photos of Yazmin, please […]