Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

The week started with a terrible loss on Saturday, July 16, in Milwaukee where 34-year-old Toi Davis, a Black trans woman, was found dead in a local neighborhood under suspicious circumstances. Details around her death are not clear at this point, but the impact of her death among her friends and family leave little doubt about how much Toi was loved. Toi was a Certified Nursing Assistant. She enjoyed cooking. She had many friends and family members.

Toi was a member of the Sisters Helping Each Other Battle Adversity, profiled in a recent series highlighting Black trans women. They wrote that “Toi is a black women of trans experience, she always knew she was different” Toi expressed the pressure she felt to conform with cisgender hetero normative expectations. “My transition has saved my life.” And she professed her faith, that she believed she was on a path as a woman that was created by God.

We will continue to monitor this story to determine more facts about her death. Her family is compiling an obituary that should be published next week and we hope we will learn more information at that time.

In Augusta, Georgia, a 26-year-old Black trans woman was found dead in a hotel room on July 20, 2022.  Keshia Chanel Geter of Eastover, S.C., was shot at least one time. She was reportedly traveling with a friend. Her body was discovered by hotel staff. The following day, Augusta police arrested and charged a local 22 year old man  is charged with murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. Additional charges may be forthcoming, according to Sgt. Caleb Lee with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office

Keshia is remembered by her cousin and best friend Steven Michael who set up a crowdfund to help the family with final expenses.

Throughout her life, she inspired people everywhere she went and touched the lives of many. She was an active advocate in the LGBTQA+ community. She was very family oriented, and to know her was to love her! She was a light that shined brighter than most.

Sadly, Keshia was misgendered and deadnamed in most of the media coverage as well as some of her friends and family posts.

Toi is the 21st and Keshia is the 22nd transgender person reported as a victim of fatal violence in 2022. They are the 14th and 15th Black trans women and the 17th and 18th woman of color from these neighbors respectively. Their deaths means a trans neighbor has been murdered every 9.1 days in 2022 in the United States. To date the victims include 15 Black trans women, 3 Latinx trans women, 1 AAIPI trans woman, 1 white trans woman and 2 white trans men. The youngest was 17, the oldest was 50. Ten were 25 or younger. Their deaths come on the heels of 2021, the most violent year in recorded history with the deaths of 57 trans, non-binary, and gender nonconforming people in the United States alone. Note that the tabulation includes a significant number of reports of folx murdered in 2021. This might be confusing. Of course it is confusing. I tried to sort it out below.

Rest in power, Toi and Keshia. You both gave so much to your communities, your friends, and the world. You deserved many more years to experience the joy and love you accumulated. I am so sorry we did not create a safer world for you. Thank you for all that you did on this earthly plane.

May your memories be a revolution.

This is our list of transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming neighbors who have been victims of the campaign of terror in 2022. Please do not copy or share this list without attribution.  

As six additions to our 2021 list have been revealed in 2022, I am adding them in a separate list below to try and make any sense of this increasing horror. These folks deserve their lives and deaths to be honored and remembered. The complexity only underscores their realities.

1. Amäriey Lèį (Myara) – Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania. January 1, 2022. Age 20. 
2. Duval Princess – Jacksonville, Florida. January 2, 2022. Age 24.
3. Naomie Skinner – Detroit, Michigan, February 12, 2022. Age 25.
4. Cypress Ramos – Lubbock, Texas, February 13, 2022. Age 21.
5. Paloma Velasquez – Houston, Texas, February 26, 2022. Age 29.
6. Matthew Spampinato – New Castle, Delaware, February 9, 2022. Age 21.
7. Tatiana LaBelle – Chicago, Illinois, March 18, 2022. Age 33.
8. Kathryn Newhouse – Canton, Georgia, March 19, 2022. Age 19.
9. Kesha Webster – Jackson, Mississippi, March 26, 2022. Age 24.
10. Miia Love Parker – Chester, Pennsylvania, April 1, 2022. Age 25.
11. Ariyanna Mitchell – Hampton, Virginia, April 2, 2022. Age 17.
12. Fern Feather – Morristown, Vermont, April 12, 2022. Age 29.
13. Ray Muscat – Clarkston, Michigan, May 8, 2022. Age 24.
14. Nedra Sequence Moss – Opa-locka, Florida, May 14, 2022. Age 50.
15. Chanelika Y’Ella Dior Hemingway aka “Sid” – Albany, New York, May 31, 2022. Age 30.
16. Sasha Mason – Zebulon, North Carolina, May 13, 2022. Age 45.
17. Brazil Johnson – Milwaukee, Wisconsin, June 15, 2022. Age 28.
18. Shawmayné Marie McClam – Gulfport, Mississippi, June 21, 2022. Age 27.
19. Kitty Monroe – Memphis, Tennessee, June 29, 2022. Age unknown.
20. Martasia Richmond – Chicago, Illinois, July 12, 2022, Age 30.
21. Toi Davis – Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 16, 2022. Age 34.
22. Keshia Chanel Geter – Augusta, Georgia, July 20, 2022. Age 26.

These are deaths reported in 2022 and beyond.

• 52 Za’Niyah Williams – Houston, Texas. December 20, 2021, reported on Jan 5, 2022. Age 21.
• 53 Nikki Turrietta – Albuquerque, New Mexico, December 31, 2021, reported on January 27, 2022. Age 31.
• 54 Keeva Scatter – Baton Rouge, Louisiana, October 15, 2021, confirmed on February 13, 2022. Age 34.
• 55 Rubi Dominguez – Brownsville, Texas, July 15, 2021, confirmed on February 13, 2022. Age 29.
• 56 Martina Caldera – Houston, Texas, December 6, 2021. Age 38.
• 57 Geri Judd – Bossier, Louisiana, September 28, 2021, confirmed March 1, 2022. Age 60