Soy Quien Soy (I Am Who I Am) : Trans Empowerment Collective organized the event. The key speaker was Zuri Rojas, who knew Torres personally and professionally. Transgender activist and local artist KOKUMO shared a song from her upcoming album.
Torres, 28, was last seen alive March 9 when she left her home to attend a party in the town of Chipilo, according to the Huffington Post. She was found in a ditch outside the city; her throat had been slashed and there were burn marks on her body.
Her death is part of a series of violent acts against LGBT individuals in the state of Puebla that have taken place this year.
According to Feministing.com, the LGBT-rights organization Vida Plena Puebla issued a statement, saying, “We condemn this crime against a woman, an academic, a psychologist, educator, role model and activist for human rights for women in general and for sexual diversity as a whole.
“We are distraught, pained, enraged and saddened by this crime, and feel powerless over how, yet again, a brave person has succumbed to the most brutal of gender-based violence … in this case, violence against a transgender woman.”
Text and photos by Ed Negron