Content warning: mentions of queer and transgender-based violence, murder, rape, and suicide.
Each year the LGBTQI+ community in many places mark November 20th as Transgender day of Remembrance (TDOR) where we remember and raise our voices for the countless fallen transgender and gender queer individuals who were tortured, murdered, raped, died of suicide or died because of poverty and homelessness in a society that would rather not have them.
There have been 409 reported deaths of transgender individuals covering October 2020 to November 2021 in 37 countries majority of which come from Latin American countries, highest of which is Brazil at 143 individuals killed or died of suicide, followed by Mexico, the United States, Colombia and Argentina.
But we know that in reality there are many more who were and are not reported or known. Some of those in the list were nameless. TDOR reminds us of the real and present danger of being transgender or gender queer in many places especially in developing countries such as the Philippines and many Latin American countries and in Islamic states like Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Pakistan as well as in the Arab and African countries. We are also reminded of the many other struggles of transgender people with the lack or limited economic opportunities and social services while experiencing continuous discrimination and facing the constant threat of violence everywhere. Open Table MCC as part of the first and oldest Christian denomination founded on the acceptance of LGBTQI+ people, we share in the sorrow and the indignation for the murder of our transgender sisters, brothers and siblings. From the 409 reports we have listed 83 names, representing all 37 reported countries.
Let us Pray: Holy and Loving One, we lift up to You these names of our transgender siblings and doing so remember them. We lift up to You their names, their stories, their struggles and their horrible death. No one should ever be abused and murdered because of their gender identity and expression yet this is the reality of our world today. And so we pronounce some of their names in solemn remembrance:
Cindy Jones Torres
Age 39
4 Aug 2021
Guiginto, Bulacan (Philippines)
Cindy was killed in her salon by Stabbing
Kiér Laprí Kartier
Age 21
30 Sep 2021
Arlington, Texas (USA)
Shot
Nathalia Leticia Barbosa da Fonseca (“Bia”)
Age 26
3 Oct 2020
São Pedro do Ivaí, Paraná (Brazil)
Shot
Gretell Ceballos Ramírez
Age 34
3 Oct 2020
Minatitlán, Veracruz (Mexico)
Shot
Felycya Harris
Age 33
3 Oct 2020
Augusta, Georgia (USA)
Shot
Michelle Ramos Alarcón (“Brenda”)
Age 26
4 Oct 2020
Cartagena, Bolívar (Colombia)
Stabbed
Marcos
Age 17
4 Oct 2020
Iztapalapa, Ciudad de México (Mexico)
Young Transgender man stabbed by a relative
Antonella García Ramírez
Age 51
4 Oct 2020
Guayaquil, Guayas (Ecuador)
Stabbed
Paolla Bueno
Age 17
5 Oct 2020
Ibitinga, São Paulo (Brazil)
Stabbed
Brooklyn DeShauna Smith
Age 20
7 Oct 2020
Shreveport, Louisiana (USA)
Shot
Mickerlange François
17 Oct 2020
Pétion-Ville, Port-au-Prince (Haiti)
A transgender man who was shot
Gabriela Ramírez
Age 19
18 Oct 2020
El Alto, Le Paz (Bolivia)
Stabbed 19 times
Sangeetha
Age 59
21 Oct 2020
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu (India)
transgender woman activist and organizational leader found wrapped in a blanket and in a plastic water drum in her home
Arsalan
28 Oct 2020
Mianwali, Punjab (Pakistan)
Shot
Vicente González Lora
Age 25
31 Oct 2020
Valdivia, Los Rios (Chile)
A young transgender man raped and suffocated
Cristina Rodríguez
Age 32
31 Oct 2020
Quito (Ecuador)
Stabbed by her own mother
Skylar Heath
Age 20
4 Nov 2020
Liberty City, Miami, Florida (USA)
Shot
Soledad Rojas Paúcar (“Shisha”)
Age 48
12 Nov 2020
El Tambo, Huancayo, Junin (Peru)
Stabbed
Benjamin Bonin
11 Nov 2020
Alvinopolis, Minas Gerais (Brazil)
A young transgender man lost to suicide
Maya Borg
Age 30 (born 24 Sep 1990)
18 Nov 2020
Tournai, Hainaut (Belgium)
A transgender woman who died of Hypothermia for being homeless – Found dead on a park bench.
China Rivera
1 Dec 2020
Milan, Lombardy (Italy)
Possible suicide
Alejandra Villa Salazar
Age 54
7 Dec 2020
Balvanera, Buenos Aires (Argentina)
Killed by suffocation
Sudarshan Suryavanshi
Age 21
11 Dec 2020
Latur, Maharashtra (India)
Beaten to death by own partner
Bridget Flack
Age 28
11 Dec 2020
Melbourne, Victoria (Australia)
Possible suicide
Duda
Age 29
13 Dec 2020
Caucaia, Ceará (Brazil)
Stabbed
Maria
15 Dec 2020
Karachi, Sindh (Pakistan)
Stabbed
Avril (“Luna”)
Age 17
15 Dec 2020
Lille, Nord (France)
Avril died by suicide in her foster home. On Wednesday 2nd December a school administrator had publicly humiliated her and sent her home for wearing a skirt.
Iratxe Otero
Age 29
24 Dec 2020
Costa del Silencio, Arona, Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Spain)
Stabbed
Angelita Alves Correia
Age 31
11 Jan 2021
Matosinhos, Norte (Portugal)
Angelita’s body was found on a beach on 11th January. She had previously reported receiving threats and had been missing for just over a week.
Samuel Edmund Damián Valentín
9 Jan 2021
Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico (USA)
A Transgender man whose body was found on the road with multiple gun shot wounds
Natalia Maldonado
Age 24
10 Jan 2021
Granadero Baigorria, Santa Fe (Argentina)
Shot
Guddu Zaman
Age 45
15 Jan 2021
Karachi, Sindh (Pakistan)
Tortured and killed
Gianna Lombardi
Age 48
18 Jan 2021
Andria, Barletta-Andria-Trani (Italy)
Gianna lived in poverty, in a home without heating or light. She died because of poverty and because of a society who did not want her.
Verónica Solano
28 Jan 2021
Bogotá, Distrito Capital (Colombia)
Stabbed
Nicolas
Age 25-26
7 Feb 2021
Le Havre, Seine-Maritime (France)
Nicolas died by suicide in his dorm room. He was a language assistant at the Lycée Claude Monet in Le Havre.
Sneha
Age 34
9 Feb 2021
Kannur, Kerala (India)
Suicide – the lone transgender woman who had contested in the recent local body elections in the state, died of burns following a self-immolation bid in front of her house at Thottada Samjwadi colony
Jeffrey Bright (“JJ”) and Non-binary sibling Jasmine
Age 16
21 Feb 2021
Ambridge, Pennsylvania (USA)
JJ and his non-binary sibling Jasmine were both shot dead by their mother.
Surya
Age 38
24 Feb 2021
Mumbai, Maharashtra (India)
Surya was a trans community leader. She was killed in the street by a group of men.
Jhie Bangkiao
15 May 2021
Leyte (Philippines)
Murdered
Near (Byuu)
Age 38 (born 21 Feb 1983)
27 Jun 2021
Arakawa, Tokyo (Japan)
After experiencing harassment died of suicide
T. Vijay Kumar
Age 25
25 Jun 2021
Tadvai, Telangana (India)
Beaten with an axe by a neighbor
Adrieli
22 Jun 2021
Rome, Lazio (Italy)
Adrieli’s body was found with a head wound in a drainage channel.
Wanda Soraya De La Fuente
19 Jun 2021
La Plata, Buenos Aires (Argentina)
Shot
Josselin Alejandra Hernández
Age 18
17 Jun 2021
San Francisco Menéndez, Ahuachapán (El Salvador)
Suicide
Ambre Audrey Istier
Age 49
15 Jun 2021
Montalieu-Vercieu, Isère (France)
Shot
Elizabeth Rondón
Age 33
14 Jun 2021
Baruta, Miranda (Venezuela)
Beaten to death and then the body was dismembered
Nila Gupta
12 Jun 2021
London (United Kingdom)
Suicide
Andrea González
Age 28
11 Jun 2021
Ciudad de Guatemala (Guatemala)
Shot dead just a few meters from her home. She was an activist, and the leader of the trans organisation Otrans Reinas de la Noche.
Leeze Lawrence
Age 39
11 Jun 2021
Stirling, Scotland (United Kingdom)
Leeze was an equality advocate, journalist and producer. She was found dead by police on Friday 11th June
Danny Benavides
11 Jun 2021
Guayaquil, Guayas (Ecuador)
Beaten to death
Pamela (“Pam”)
1 Jun 2021
Turkey
Pamela was reportedly found beheaded in her apartment. She was a refugee from DRC Congo who we believe was living somewhere in Turkey.
Gloria Florencia Álvez Mariño
Age 78
30 May 2021
Montevideo (Uruguay)
Gloria died from COVID-19. She had been an activist for over 30 years and was directly involved in the creation of laws to protect LGBT+ people, sex workers and women.
Raza
27 May 2021
Faisalabad, Punjab (Pakistan)
Stabbed
Poe Black/Oliver Jackson (“Legion”, “Tommi”)
Age 21
26 May 2021
Slab City, California (USA)
Poe was two-spirit. He was reportedly stabbed and his body dumped in a canal after being sexually assaulted.
Karencita Mejía Núñez
Age 28
24 May 2021
Tegucigalpa, Distrito Central (Honduras)
Shot by gang members
Oliver “Ollie” Taylor
Age 17
19 May 2021
Gervais, Oregon (USA)
Shot
S. Saira Mamani
Age 24
13 May 2021
Arequipa (Peru)
Unsafe cosmetic procedure
Aliya
Age 33
9 May 2021
Jamshedpur, Jharkhand (India)
Suicide
Danny Henson
Age 31
4 May 2021
Baltimore, Maryland (USA)
Shot
T. Hardin
Age 35
2 May 2021
York, South Carolina (USA)
Shot
Keri Washington
Age 49
1 May 2021
Clearwater, Florida (USA)
Murdered
Remy Fennell
Age 28
15 Apr 2021
Charlotte, North Carolina (USA)
Shot
Luisa Revilla Urcia
Age 49 (born 12 Oct 1971)
15 Apr 2021
Trujillo, La Libertad (Peru)
Died from COVID-19 two weeks after being admitted to hospital. She was a former mayor of the La Esperanza district of Trujillo.
Dimitra Kalogiannis
Age 64
9 Apr 2021
Athens, Attica (Greece)
Was killed in a hit and run incident on 9th April
Bubbli
7 Apr 2021
Taxila, Punjab (Pakistan)
Shot
Mumtaz
Age 60
5 Apr 2021
Karachi, Sindh (Pakistan)
Shot
Vida Bruno
Age 44
6 Apr 2021
Salvador, Bahia (Brazil)
Beaten to death
Pietra Valentina
Age 16
5 Apr 2021
Juazeiro do Norte, Ceará (Brazil)
Stabbed
Daniela (“Sirenita Riascos”)
Age 19
28 Mar 2021
Buga, Valle de Cauca (Colombia)
Stabbed
Niharika Narasimhamurthy
Age 35
20 Mar 2021
Hindupur, Andhra Pradesh (India)
Stabbed and burned
Luana Katrina
20 Mar 2021
Brazil
Suicide
Paola Calderon
Age 24
15 Mar 2021
Cuautla, Morelos (Mexico)
Beaten and shot
Miraş Güneş
Age 36
11 Mar 2021
İzmir (Turkey)
Beaten to death
Jesús Ochandio (“La Ochandio”)
Age 68
6 Mar 2021
Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires (Argentina)
Stabbed
Viktoria Basakovskaya (“Vika”)
Age 23
13 Oct 2020
Burmistrovo, Novosibirsk (Russia)
Strangled and mutilated by her partner
Byun Hee-soo
Age 23
3 Mar 2021
Cheongju, North Chungcheong (South Korea)
Was found dead at home. Died of Suicide. A year earlier she had been expelled from the South Korean army after undergoing gender confirmation surgery.
Lala Contreras
Age 18-22 (born 2 Sep 1998)
3 Mar 2021
Somotillo, Chinandega (Nicaragua)
Tortured and stoned
Nicolas
Age 15
2 Mar 2021
Rio Grande, Tierra del Fuego (Argentina)
Suicide – a young trans man who was in the process of changing his identity documents. He was found dead at home.
Xingshun Zhou
Age 24 (born 10 Feb 1997)
26 Feb 2021
Echt, Limburg (Netherlands)
Suicide – Was stuck in the Netherlands as an asylum seeker. Neglected and without support.
Tati Quirós
Age 20
7 Dec 2020
Playas del Coco, Guanacaste (Costa Rica)
Shot
Ella
Age 40
14 Sep 2021
Berlin (Germany)
died by suicide in front of a department store on Alexanderplatz. She was an Iranian refugee who had been living in Germany for several years.
Grace Mahoro
3 Jul 2021
Malawi
Beaten to death by mob
Ebeng Mayor
20 May 2021
Quezon City, Metro Manila (Philippines)
A young transgender man who was raped and beaten to death
And we remember and include in this holy remembrance the rest of the 409 transgender individuals who died and were murdered between. We include in holy remembrance all those other transgender individuals whose names and stories that were never reported and listed but are known to You, Eternal One. They who have experienced such horror in this world may now experience love and acceptance in Your eternal embrace.
In their memory and for the sake of other transgender individuals here and everywhere, inspire us and push us to be in constant solidarity with the transgender community. With this remembrance and realities, call us and strengthen us to continue to offer safe spaces for them and deliver messages of inclusion and hope for transgender and gender queer individuals. Push us and move us to share in their movement for social justice, legal protection and equal rights. This is our prayer and may this prayer lead us to action in and through the name of all our fallen brethren and Jesus Christ, the risen One. Amen.
Give them justice oh, Lord for their blood cries out to you! And eternal rest grant unto them oh God.
May your perpetual light shine upon them, always! And may they rest in your everlasting love and peace.
Amen.
