Jackie Shane (1940 – 2019) musician who had a hit in Toronto, 1962 with “Any Other Way”. She was then androgynous. She completed transition in old age.
Gayle Sherman (1940 – 2019) Jewel Box Review, 82 Club, post-op stripper, cosmetologist.
Bebe Scarpinato (1951 – 2019) teacher, activist in GAA, STAR, QLF, on the originating board of the National Gay Task Force and was active in planning the fourth Christopher Street Liberation Day (which later became the New York Pride March), editor of Drag Magazine.
Julia Grant (1954 – 2019) protagonist of the pioneering documentary A Change of Sex, 1979, author of two autobiographies, bar owner, activist.
Phaedra Kelly (1955 – 2019) cofounder of the Transconscient Arts Movement, founder of the International Gender Transient Affinity. Featured in Richard Ekins’ books.
Jamie Lee Hamilton (1955 – 2019) Vancouver activist, first trans person in Canada to run for public office, ran a non-profit centre for sex workers, and agitated to bring attention to the missing women in the period before the arrest of serial killer Robert Pickton.
Penny Whetton (1958 – 2019) climate scientist, Melbourne. a lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Third Assessment Report, and of the Fourth Assessment Report which was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.
Julie Berman (1968 – 2019) Toronto activist who raised awareness about violence against trans women, herself murdered.
Nikki Arguz Loyd (1975 – 2019) A trans activist since adolescence. Her second husband, a firefighter, died on the job in 2010, and his family and first wife litigated to deny her widow’s benefits. This was reversed in 2015.
Miriam Rivera (1981 – 2019) featured in UK and Australian reality shows in 2004. Found dead in apartment in Mexico.
Rajathi (1981 -2019) priestess murdered and beheaded while attending at her temple in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu.
Genilson José da Silva (1984 – 2019) bar owner Jardim Marisa, Campo Belo, Brazil, murdered and mutilated by a trick.
Camila Díaz Córdova (1990 –2019) San Salvador. Fled from transphobic violence to US, but was deported back, and then murdered.
Jade Camila Diaz (199? – 2019) was creating a transgender women's collective in San Francisco Gotera, the provincial capital of Morazán state. She had also worked on forced displacement and migration issues, which particularly affect the trans community. Murdered.
Jordan Cofer (1997 – 2019). Cofer’s brother, Connor Betts, did a mass shooting at a nightclub in Dayton, Ohio, and Jordan was the first victim of 9 – also 13 were wounded. Betts was quickly shot dead by police.
Britany Sanchez Zárate (1999 – 2019) had just been crowned Princess of the Carnival of Minatitlán, Veracruz when two men fatally shot her.
Murder Count
There were 331 recorded deaths this last year – plus many more nor reported, especially in countries were transgender is not recognized. This is slightly less bad than the 369 reported in 2018, but still a serious jump from the 270 in 2017.
As usual the most murders were recorded in Brazil (130), Mexico (63), the United States (30).
