RIP Christa Leigh Steele-Knudslien, 42, First Trans Woman Murdered in 2018

Christa

A 42-year-old in the town of North Adams, Massachusetts is the first known transgender person to be killed in 2018 in the United States. Her name was Christa Leigh Steele-Knudslien. The man who confessed to police that he killed Christa is her husband, 47-year-old Mark Steele-Knudslien. He is awaiting arraignment. An autopsy will be conducted Sunday […]

Black Trans Woman Brandi Seals is the 25th Transgender Person Reported Murdered in 2017

Brandi Seals Transgender

  She was 26 years old. Her name was Brandi Seals. She lived in Houston, Texas. She was a black trans woman. And she is now the 25th transgender person to be murdered in the US during 2017. According to reports from Houston media, it was just around 6 a.m. Wednesday, December 13,  when neighbors […]

Brooklyn BreYanna Stevenson is the 24th Trans Person Murdered in 2017

Brooklyn BreYanna Stevenson was found dead in a motel room in Oklahoma City on Monday, November 27, 2017. She was 31 years old. She is now the 24th transgender person known to be murdered in the United States during 2017. Her death comes just a week after the Transgender Day of Remembrance honored victims of […]

My Family Tree: Unexpected Loss of My Cousin Brian Koerber

Brian Koerber

This is a hard time of year for me. In 2007, my dear old friend died at age 41. In 2010, my elder maternal cousin Theresa died at age 45.  In 2012, another old friend and brother to my college roommate died at age 45. His name was Kevin. I’m now older than all of […]

Black Trans Woman Candace Towns, 30, is 23rd Victim of Anti-Trans Violence in 2017

30-year-old Candace Towns of Macon, Georgia is the 23rd transgender person lost to anti-trans violence in 2017. From Monica Roberts at Transgriot: Towns was staying at the Rodeway Inn on Eisenhower Parkway, was last seen alive Saturday, and was reported missing on Sunday.  At 4 PM EDT Tuesday an anonymous 911 call was received  reporting […]

Stephanie Montez is 22nd Transgender Person Murdered in 2017

A week after her body was discovered, friends of Stephanie Montez spoke out to make sure her authentic identity was acknowledged. The friends of Corpus Christi transgender woman Stephanie Montez were left aghast as their search for her revealed that the Sheriff had identified her as a “man in a dress” in an inexcusably transphobic […]

RIP Chuck Tierney (March 29, 1948 – Oct. 11, 2017)

Chuck Tierney

A founding father of the regional LGBTQ community has passed, Chuck Tierney. Chuck was a 1966 graduate of Munhall High School. In 1977, Chuck purchased the legendary Holiday Bar on Forbes Avenue in Oakland, along with Chuck Honse. For 40 years, the bar played host to the city’s LGBT community and kept the secrets of […]

Ally Steinfeld,17, of Missouri is The 21st Trans Person Killed in 2017

Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

    This morning I learned about the brutal murder of a young trans youth. Please take note that this post contains some graphic details, misgendering, and links to sites with similar content. Ally Steinfeld was 17 years old from Missouri. She identified on her Facebook account as female, using her birth name as well as […]

Derricka Banner, 26, is the 20th Trans Person Murdered in 2017

She was 26 years old, a black trans woman living in Lenoir, North Carolina. Originally from New York City, she had studied at Caldwell Community College. She previously worked for Wal-Mart and was working most recently with Tyson Foods. She was known to some friends as Ms Bow Wow and sometimes Derricka Lashae. According to […]

Ashley Ugolotti, 27, Deserves to Be Remembered For Her Whole Self

I have written so many ‘In Memoriam’ blog posts over the years, that I’ve asked a graphic design friend to create a suitable image I can use in lieu of generic images. Then I burst into tears because that feels so terrible, even though it feels equally necessary. This came to mind last week when […]