International Transgender Day of Remembrance 2009
The Transgender Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder on November 28th, 1998 kicked off the “Remembering Our Dead” web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Rita Hester’s murder — like most anti-transgender murder cases — has yet to be solved.
Although not every person represented during the Day of Remembrance self-identified as transgender — that is, as a transsexual, crossdresser, or otherwise gender-variant — each was a victim of violence based on bias against transgender people.
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It’s hard to know how many people are victims of anti-transgender hate crimes each year. In many locations statistics on such crimes are not kept. We may have a better idea of such crimes in the US thanks to the recently passed Matthew Shepard Act. But worldwide information will still be difficult to come by.
What we do know is that last year there were at least 200 victims of anti-transgender violence in the last year. Chances are the number is much higher than that but we’ll never know for sure. Here are just a few of those victims. What I find striking, as is often the case in anti-LGBT hate crimes, is how vicious many of the crimes were.
Taysia Elzy
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana USA
Cause of Death: Shot to death by 20 year old Christopher Conwell.
Date of Death: December 26, 2008
Taysia was 34 years old.
Taysia and Michael Hunt were romantically involved and it is believed that they were murdered because Taysia was transgender and Michael was murdered because of his relationship with Taysia.
They were both found dead in their apartment.Mhtium Abululak
Location: Catelfranco Veneto (Italy), own apartment
Cause of Death: Stabbed and shot in the head
Date of Death: January 3rd 2009
Mhtium was 33 years old.
Cynthia Nicole
Location: Comayaguela, Honduras
Cause of Death: Shot 3 times in the chest and once in the head by three
unknown men driving a blue car in Barrio Guaserique, Comayaguela, near Tegucigalpa.
Date of Death: January 9, 2009
News sources believe that the killing of Cynthia Nicole may be related to her legitimate human rights activities, in particular her involvement in the defense of the rights of the transgender community.Rovilson Teixeira
Location: Londrina, Brazil
Cause of Death: Stabbed
Date of Death: January 18, 2009
Rovilson was 18 years old, she was stabbed 7 times.“Víctor Manuel” Albor Camacho
Location: Acámbaro, Mexico
Cause of Death: Stabbed
Date of Death: January 20, 2009
Albor was 24 years old. She was found in the street, she had been tortured and beaten.Dayana Nicole Castillo García
Location: Tarapoto, Perú
Cause of Death: Stabbed
Date of Death: January 22, 2009
Dayana was 31 years old. She was found dead in her own beauty salon.
She was stabbed 20 times.Cristy
Location: Guatemala-City, Guatemala
Cause of Death: Stabbed
Date of Death: February 10, 2009
Cristy was 25 years old.
She was stabbed 30 times.Puttalakshmi’s
Location: Bangalore, India
Cause of Death: Thrown from a moving vehicle
Date of Death: February 18, 2009
Puttalakshmi’s was Hijra. She was 30 years old.
Puttalakshmi’s was raped and thrown out of a moving vehicle.Eda Yildirm
Location: Bursa, Turkey
Cause of Death: Decapitated
Date of Death: March 22, 2009
Her head and sexual organs had been chopped off and tossed in a dumpster.Gisela “Roni” Galante
Location: Gualeguaychú, Argentina
Cause of Death: Murdered
Date of Death: April 1, 2009
Gisela was 42 years old.
The details of her death was not reported
although dismemberment was indicated in the news article.Jeva Padilla
Location: Santiago, Dominican Republic
Cause of Death: Tortured and Killed
Date of Death: April 21, 2009
23 year old Jeva was brutally tortured (Burns, mutilated genitals and face, executed with 40 shots) in the northern city of Santiago, Central Cibao Police District spokesman Col. Jesus Cordero Paredes said.Cesar Torres
Location: El Paso, Texas
Cause of Death: Blunt Force Trauma
Date of Death: July 9, 2009
An autopsy report says Cesar died from blunt force trauma. He had cuts around his eyes, broken ribs, a broken nose, a ruptured liver, wrenched neck and several stab wounds.
Tyli’a Mack also known as NaNa Boo
Location: Washington, DC
Cause of Death: Stabbed to death
Date of Death: August 26, 2009
Tyli’a was stabbed to death on the street in broad daylight.
Tyli’a was 21 years old.
Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado
Location: Cayey, Peurto Rico
Cause of Death: decapitated
Date of Death: November 14, 2009
Jorge was found on the site of an isolated road in the city of Cayey, he was partially burned, decapitated, and dismembered, both arms, both legs, and the torso.
Jorge was 19 years old.
