Every year in November, there is a week of words that leads to a day of memory. Transgender Awareness Week is November 13th through the 19th. A week of speaking up, sharing who we are, that we’re people and we’re not going anywhere.
It’s also a time for bringing awareness to the many issues that we still face as transgender individuals. There are still legal battles fought for rights. Insurance that won’t cover gender dysphoria treatments and hormones, let alone surgery. There continues to be poor treatment of transgender individuals in work and school environments, not to mention home environments—which can range from bullying and dehumanizing behavior to acts of violence.
Every year, at the end of Transgender Awareness Week, there is a day of remembering those who are no longer with us. Those that we lost that year due to violence because of who they were. Those that are gone because they lived their truth. This year, that day is November 20th.
Every year, the Trans Murder Monitoring project tallies names, ages, locations and stories of those who we lost to violence. Every year, that list gets longer. And every year, we know that even with the names we do have, that isn’t all of them. Many names are lost to time due to a variety of factors, including but not limited to; reporting of individuals with their deadnames, their deaths being ruled as not being murders, and those who are never found at all.
(A ‘deadname’ is also known as a transgender person’s ‘birth name’, and if or when they change their name to one that reflects them better their previous name is considered ‘dead’, and is not to be used.)
Worldwide, there were 327 murders reported this year. A majority of those murders were of transgender women, and many were transgender women of color.
This year, according to the Human Rights Campaign, there were 32 deaths this year in the United States and Puerto Rico. Their names are listed below.
Remember them and mourn them. And make the world safer for those of us who are still here.
Tiffany Banks, 25, in Miami, Florida. October 1, 2022.
Semaj Billingslea, 33, in Jacksonville, Florida. September 21, 2022.
Acey Morrison, 20, in Rapid City, South Dakota. August 21, 2022.
Mya Allen, 35, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. August 29, 2022.
Dede Ricks, 33, in Detroit, Michigan. August 27, 2022.
Maddie Hofmann, 47, in Malvern, Pennsylvania. May 19, 2022.
Aaron Lynch, 26, in McLean, Virginia. July 7, 2022.
Kandii Reed, 29, in Kansas City, Missouri. July 24, 2022.
Hayden Davis, 28, in Detroit, Michigan. July 25, 2022.
Marisela Castro, 39, in Houston, Texas. July 29, 2022.
Cherry Bush, 48, in Los Angeles, California, July 5, 2022.
Keshia Chanel Geter, 26, in Augusta, Georgia. July 20, 2022.
Martasia Richmond, 30, in Chicago, Illinois. July 12, 2022.
Kitty Monroe in Cordova, Tennessee. June 29, 2022.
Shawmaynè Giselle Marie, 27, in Gulfport, Mississippi. June 21, 2022.
Brazil Johnson, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. June 15, 2022.
Sasha Mason, 45, in Zebulon, North Carolina. May 13, 2022.
Chanelika Y'Ella Dior Hemingway, 30, in Albany, New York. May 31, 2022.
Nedra Sequence Morris, 50, in Opalocka, Florida. May 14, 2022.
Ray Muscat, 24, in Oakland County, Michigan. May 8, 2022.
Fern Feather, 29, in Morristown, Vermont. April 12, 2022.
Ariyanna Mitchell, 17, in Hampton, Virginia. April 2, 2022.
Miia Love Parker, 25, in Chester, Pennsylvania. April 1, 2022.
Kenyatta ‘Kesha” Webster, 24, in Jackson, Mississippi. March 26, 2022.
Kathryn “Katie” Newhouse, 19, in Canton, Georgia. March 19, 2022.
Tatiana Labelle, 33, in Chicago, Illinois. March 18, 2022.
Paloma Vazquez, 29, in Houston, Texas, February 26, 2022.
Matthew Angelo Spampinato,21, in New Castle, Delaware. February 9, 2022.
Naomie Skinner, 25, in Detroit, Michigan. February 12, 2022.
Cypress Ramos, 21, in Lubbock, Texas. February 13, 2022.
Duval Princess, 24, in Jacksonville, Florida. January 3, 2022.
Nikki Turietta, 31, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. December 31, 2021.
Za’niyah Williams, 21, in Houston, Texas. December 20, 2021.
Ke’Yahonna Stone, 32, in Indianapolis, Indiana. December 28, 2021.
Nikai David, 33, in Oakland, California. December 4, 2021.
Danyale Thompson, 35, in Memphis, Tennessee. November 13, 2021.
Angel Naira, 36, Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. November 11, 2021.
Jenny De Leon, 25, in Tampa, Florida. November 2, 2021.
