Transgender Day of Remembrance

On New Year’s Eve last year I included a list of members of the transgender community who had been murdered because of their life choice in 2013. Unfortunately, the number of transgender murder victims remains high in 2014.

On this Transgender Day of Remembrance I present this candle in memory of them all. At the same time I celebrate their choice to live as they felt they should, and their courage in facing violence.

As of yesterday there have been over 220 murders of transgender people worldwide. The list below is condensed from the Transgender Day of Remembrance website which lists some of the victims, their manner of death, their age, and the location. This list gives the names in chronological order since 19th November 2013.

Jacqueline Cowdrey (50) Worthing, West Sussex, UK

Rosa Ribut (Jon Syah Ribut) (35) Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Betty Skinner (52) Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Brittany Stergis (22) Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Joice (José Antônio Vieira Freitas) (32) Teresina, Piauí, Brazil

Elizalber Oliveira de Mesquita (39) Teresina, Piauí, Brazil

Paloma (age not reported) Belém, Pará, Brazil

Rayka Tomaz (20) Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil

Prince Joe (Joseph Sanchez) (18) Belize City, Belize

Toni Gretchen (50) Teresina, Piauí, Brazil

Luana (20) Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil

Cristal (Alexandre Nascimento de Araújo) (22) Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.

Thifani (18) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Joice (José Antônio Vieira Freitas) (32) Teresina, Piauí, Brazil

Sarita (Marcos de Almeida Oliveira) Itabela, Bahia, Brazil

Juju (Julian de Souza Cruz) (32) Salgueiro, Pernambuco, Brazil

Raíssa (Lourivaldo Xavier) (age not reported) Cuiabá, Mato Gross, Brazil

Tatty (age not reported) Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Rafaela (Alexsandro Alderotti José dos Santos) (32) Recife, Brazil

Alex Medeiros (8) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Paulete (age not reported) Taguatinga, Brazil

Camila Veronezi (24) Bragança Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil

Lu (Célio Martins da Silva) (age not reported) Nova Serrana, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Kitana (age not reported) Aracaju, Sergipe, Brazil

Sarita do Sopão (39) Teresina, Piauí, Brazil

Andressa Pinheiro (age not reported) João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil

Rose Maria (32) Brás, São Paulo, Brazil

Vitória (16) Boa Vista, Roraima, Brazil

Paulete (Paulo Roberto Lima dos Santos) (19) Teresina, Piauí, Brazil

Marciana (age not reported) Iguatu, Ceará, Brazil

Nicole (Marcos Vinicius Machado) (20) Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil

Giovana Souza Silva (33) São Paulo, Brazil

Mileide (age not reported) Santo Antônio, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

Valquíria (Josivaldo Ribeiro Oliveira Brito) Rondonópolis, Mato Grosso, Brazil.

Çağla Joker (age not reported) Tarlabaşı, Beyoğlu, Istanbul, Turkey

Marcia Moraes (34) Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Kandy Hall (40) Montebello, Maryland, USA

Paola (Anderson Arruda Camote) (29) Arandu, São Paulo, Brazil

Mia Henderson (26) Baltimore, Maryland, USA

André Luiz Borges Rocha (age not reported) Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, Brazil

Kellen Santorine (age not reported) Uberaba, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Mackelly Castro (24) Teresina, Piauí, Brazil

Lele (24) Roatán, Honduras

Dennysi Brandão (24) Contagem, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Alisson Henrique da Silva (25) Macaíba, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

Alejandra Leos (age not reported) Memphis, Tennessee, USA

Karen Alanis (23) Caçapava, São Paulo, Brazil

Marcela Duque (46) Medellín, Colombia

Cris (age not reported) Portal da Foz, Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil

Mahadevi (age not reported) Malleshwara, Karnataka, India

Bruna Lakiss (26) Várzea Grande, Mato Grosso, Brazil

Aniya Parker (age not reported) East Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Gaivota dos Santos (age not reported) Rio Largo, Alagoas, Brazil

Géia Borghi (age not reported) Monte Mor, São Paulo, Brazil

Jennifer Laude (age not reported) Subic Bay, Zambales, Philippines

Sara (27) Camaçari, Bahia, Brazil

Aguinaldo Cláudio Colombelli (45) Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Flávia (age not reported) Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil

Mary Joy Añonuevo (55) Lucena, Quezon, Philippines

Maicon (age not reported) Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil

 

There are also the following locations where un-named transgender victims have been murdered. It saddens me to see that so many of the victims were murdered in Brazil:

Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil x2

São Paulo, Brazil  x2

Jardim dos Ipês Itaquaquecetuba, São Paulo, Brazil

Coruripe, Alagoas, Brazil

Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Sobral, Ceará, Brazil

João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil

Jardim Ingá, Goiás, Brazil

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil