Transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) Chicagoans have not escaped the epidemic of violence that has faced so many TGNC people in the United States.
A group of Windy City Times fellows, as part of a project conducted in partnership with the Field Foundation, profiled a number of local TGNC individuals who lost their lives to such violence in the past 10 years. We have also included a report on what local authorities say they are doing to address this violence that looms as a threat for so many in our community.
Windy City Times is aware that this list is by no means exhaustive. Much violence against TGNC goes unreported and, even when it does, there are few guarantees that authorities and media will properly identify a victim as being part of the TGNC community.
Constructing a well-rounded profile for several of these Chicagoans has been equally challenging. While some of these individuals were well-remembered members of their families and communities, others preferredor were forced by their circumstancesto live lives that were relatively quiet. The passage of time can be equally difficult a challenge to overcome; some may not have had social media pages memorializing them, and the friends and loved ones who remember them best may have dispersed over the years.
When Transgender Day of Remembrance is observed each year, people are all urged to say the name of the victims who have fallen to anti-TGNC violence. With this project, Windy City Times hopes to go beyond just the names and create, when possible, richer portraits of these persons whose lives were lost in this violent pandemic.
View the stories:
Advocates say Black, Latinx trans womenmore vulnerable to violence, holistic approach needed: www.windycitytimes.com/lgbt/Advocates-Black-Latinx-trans-women-vulnerable-to-violence-holistic-approach-needed/71903.html .
Remembering Selena Reyes Hernandez: www.windycitytimes.com/lgbt/Selena-Reyes-Hernandez/71905.html .
Remembering Dejanay Stanton: www.windycitytimes.com/lgbt/Remembering-Dejanay-Stanton/71906.html .
Remembering Courtney Eshay Key: www.windycitytimes.com/lgbt/Remembering-Courtney-Eshay-Key/71909.html .
Remembering Tiara Banks: www.windycitytimes.com/lgbt/Remembering-Tiara-Banks/71910.html .
Remembering Tiara Richmond/Keke Collier: www.windycitytimes.com/lgbt/Remembering-Tiara-Richmond-Keke-Collier/71911.html .
Remembering Tiffany Gooden: www.windycitytimes.com/lgbt/Remembering-Tiffany-Gooden-/71912.html .
Remembering Paige Clay: www.windycitytimes.com/lgbt/Remembering-Paige-Clay/71913.html .
Remebering Ciara Minaj Carter Frazier: www.windycitytimes.com/lgbt/Remembering-Ciara-Minaj-Carter-Frazier/71921.html .
Remembering Tyianna Alexander: www.windycitytimes.com/lgbt/Remembering-Tyianna-Alexander/71920.html .
Remembering TT Saffore: www.windycitytimes.com/lgbt/Remembering-TT-Saffore/71919.html .