On Trans Day of Visibility, Black Trans Woman Kaitoria ‘Kai’ Bankz, 31, Shot to Death.

An attempted carjacking left a Black trans woman dead and her brother hospitalized on Monday, March 31, 2024 in Autaugaville, Alabama. Her name was Kaitoria ‘Kai’ Le’Cynthia Bankz. The would-be carjacker, Kelmen Merrell King, is in police custody. WSFA reports that Bankz and King communicated online before the deadly incident and met for what investigators […]

Trans woman of color who supported herself as a sex worker while living on the streets was killed by police when she called 911

Linda Becerra Moran was 30 when she called 911 and reported she was at risk of being kidnnapped in Los Angeles. That was February 7, 2025. The Crime According to the website Remembering Our Dead Footage of the encounter showed officers speaking in Spanish with a distraught Becerra Moran in the moments leading up to […]

2025 Discovery of the Body of Jay Lee, a Gay Black GNC 20-year-old, Spurs Trans, Queer Advocacy in Mississippi

The Crime Jay Lee also styled as Jaylee went missing on Friday 8th July, 2022 from Lafayette County, Mississippi. There was a suspect who went to trial even though Jay’s body was not found until early February 2025 in  in Carroll County. The legal proceedings in 2022 ended in mistrial. Upon the recent discovery of […]

2023 Stabbing Death of Trans Woman Amira O’Neill Comes to Light in Michigan

Amira O'Neill

The trial of a man in Michigan brought to light the 2023 death off a trans woman, Amira O’Neiill. Ronnie Magbray, 28, is charged with open murder and three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon for allegedly killing Amira. Reporting by MichiganLive helped us learn about Amira. Amira O’Neill, 44, was fatally stabbed early […]

Here are the Questions the Media Should Be Asking About the Death of Elisa Rae Shupe

Journalists have been reaching out to me in every possible way to figure out how to confirm that the person who jumped off the VA Hospital in Syracuse on January 27, 2025 was Elisa Rae Shupe. They can’t report until they confirm so they ask me, they ask for family contacts, they ask for my […]

It matters that trans folx Sam Nordquist AND Tahiry Broom AND Elisa Rae Shupe died

Trans deaths

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 […]

I Knew Elisa Rae Shupe (1963-2025) and She Deserved Better

Jamie Shupe Pittsburgh

I met Elisa Rae Shupe, known then as Jamie, here in Pittsburgh. She had moved here with her wife for trans affirming health care. We met through the local LGBTQ Community Center when I was seeking donations from veterans groups to support trans and queer youth. Note: while Elisa is well known for winning a […]