Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

The media has been zealously covering the brutal, unfathomable murder of biracial trans man Sam Nordquist in upstate New York this month. Sam was a 24 year old young adult who trusted the wrong person and paid a horrific price. His death is a travesty and there are lessons to be learned.

But Sam is not the only trans person whose death we acknowledge this month.

Tahiry Broom

On February 9, a 29 year old Black trans woman named Tahiry Broom was murdered by a gunshot to her head in Detroit. Tahiry was visiting from her hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. Her murderer is in custody. Police released the appalling fact that he had tried to contact over 30 different Black sex workers that day – like he was hunting them?

Tahiry’s death is also unfathomable. But Tahiry was a sex worker and that always tamps down the outrage. Sex work somehow lessens a person’s worth and thus diminishes their death, no matter the circumstances. Obviously, her killer thought so given his desperate attempt to find someone to kill.

But she was a 29 year old young person. Her whole life should have been ahead of her. It matters that see lived and we should celebrate her life while mourning her death. The stigma around sex workers is disgusting, especially when it creates a hierarchy of grief and mourning.

Elisa Rae Shupe

Last week we also learned of the death of Elisa Rae Shupe, 61, a friend of mine and a groundbreaking member of the trans community. According to personal reports, Elisa died by suicide after jumping from the roof of the VA hospital in Syracuse, New York on January 27, 2025. Her body was wrapped in a trans pride flag.

It seems almost impossible to get official verification of Elisa’s death by suicide. The VA says that even though it happened on federal property, federal military property it is up to local police. Local police say the Department of Defense is handling the matter. Everyone points to Elisa’s family as the ultimate responsible party – what a terrible burden to put on her spouse. Even worse are journalists contacting her estranged biological family and trying to contact her adult child.

There’s no reason either the DOD or local police cannot issue verification once the coroner has confirmed. Why on earth would they be so cruel to the family to shift responsibility? Well, I guess that’s not surprising given the state of federal affairs under our co-presidents.

The Department of Defense and the Veteran’s Administration are erasing Elisa Rae Shupe by denying her the dignity of a formal acknowledgment of her death. She probably wouldn’t be surprised.

Investigations

The investigation into Sam’s murder has taken the predictable twist of focusing on hate crime charges before the facts are known. The five suspects are in custody and charged with Murder in the Second Degree — Depraved Indifference which carries a potential sentence of 15-20 years. I don’t know enough about New York law to know why the charge isn’t first degree murder.

Three out of the five suspects have previous criminal convictions. The District Attorney’s office has officially said “his assailants were known to each other, identified as LGBTQ+, and at least one of the defendants lived with Sam in the time period leading up to the instant offense”. The fact that they are part of the LGBTQ community does not mean they cannot commit a hate crime – that’s a core misunderstanding of how hate crime laws work.

If Sam’s murder wasn’t a first degree act of murder, what? Rhetorical question I intend to explore.

It is very important for Detroit police to investigate why the man who murdered Tahiry Broom called over 30 Black sex workers. It is also important that they are in communication with sex worker collectives to keep everyone safe. Also why did a man with no prior record buy an illegal gun and do this?

It is also important that the DOD and the VA and the local police officially confirm the identity of the person who died by suicide at January 27. Here’s the DOD communication link. Here’s the link for the VA. and here’s the number for the Syracuse VA 315-425-4400. And here’s the link to the Syracuse Medical Examiner’s Office.

Do trans deaths matter?

So three trans neighbors have died recently and we have questions in all three cases. My concern is that we have a tendency to get hyper fixated on one case and then turn our attention to the next thing – remember Nex Benedict? A nonbinary teen died soon afterwards from her boyfriend starving and then stabbing her with a sword. She starved for nearly two years. And we weren’t paying attention.

I am not making some sort of word play with the header of this section. We know our co-presidents want to eradicate trans people. We know far too many elected officials are willing to go along. And we know that too many of our neighbors would prefer to cling to tropes and ignorance rather than understand the science and the data. Or the humanity of the people they dissect with casual cruelty on social media.

Do better

We can pay attention to all three cases and ensure justice for the deceased neighbors. We can demand transparent investigations. Also, we can take lessons from these terrible losses and apply them to our ow lives.

Are we supporting our immediate trans neighbors? Do we volunteer, donate, attend events? Do we listen to them? Do you have a yard sign or sticker? Do we take stands? Do we know the local laws and the policies of our school districts? Can we point to a reliable source for information?

Do you fully understand that the terror campaign targeting the trans community is unacceptable? That it is shot across the bow for what Project 2025 has in store for all of us?

Remember their names – Sam Nordquist, Tahiry Broom, and Elisa Rae Shupe. Their lives differed, but in the end they shared the culmination of anti-trans realities in the United States.

Remember all of them. Their joint stories reflect the reality of trans America.

Rest in power, friends.