From
left: Jahaira DeAlto Balenciaga, Iris Santos, and Tiffany Thomas
At least three
more transgender or gender-nonconforming Americans, all people of color, have
died by violence in recent days.
Jahaira DeAlto
Balenciaga, 42, an activist and a legend in the Boston ballroom scene, was
stabbed to death Sunday in her home in the city’s Dorchester neighborhood. A
house guest, Fatima Yasin, 28, was also killed in the attack, Boston
broadcaster WGBH reports.
Yasin’s
husband, Marcus Chavin, 34, has been charged with two counts of murder. He and
their two children, aged 7 and 8, were also staying in DeAlto’s home. She had
offered “a safe space for them to get out of a bad situation,” Nolan Tesis, a
friend of DeAlto’s, told WGBH. Police have not stated a motive for the crime
but have said Chavin had a history of mental illness.
DeAlto was
known as “a community advocate, anti-domestic violence activist, mother figure
and local ballroom drag scene icon,” the station reports. “Jahaira was a legend
for the trans community,” Tesis said. “She was a mother to so many that didn't
have parents. I think that she took the most pride in her role as a grandmother
and a mother, a chosen family for many individuals in the LGBTQ community.”
DeAlto worked
for the Elizabeth Freeman Center, which assists survivors of domestic violence
and sexual assault. “We remember Jahaira as a colleague, activist and survivor
who touched the lives of everyone around her with her passion, drive, humanity,
humor, and fierce vision,” center officials tweeted. “Her impact on the community was profound and
her presence will be missed by many.”
She was famous
in Boston’s ballroom scene as a member of the House of Balenciaga. “The House
of Balenciaga regretfully acknowledges the death/murder of our own Jahaira M.
DeAlto, a community advocate and friend to many,” Harold Balenciaga wrote on
Facebook. “Let us not forget her ongoing work against domestic abuse and
continue to uplift her name and ensure her memory lives on in this ironic twist
of fate.”
Iris Santos,
22, was shot to death while sitting at a picnic table outside a Chick-fil-A
restaurant in Houston the evening of April 23, local TV station KTRK reports. Someone just walked up to her and
started shooting, according to the station. The attack was caught on
surveillance video, and police are asking for help in identifying the suspect,
who was seen fleeing into a neighboring apartment complex. Police released a
portion of the video Monday; they have not determined a motive in the crime,
although they have not ruled out anti-trans bias.
Santos’s
family did not learn of her death for several days, having become concerned
after not hearing from her. “She was a beautiful soul,” her mother, Maria
Carreon, told KTRK this week. “She was a wonderful person. She [was] always
trying to help people, and even when she doesn’t have nothing, she always gives.”
Anyone with
information is asked to call the Houston Police Department’s Homicide Division
at (713) 308-3600 or CrimeStoppers at (713) 222- 8477 (TIPS). Her family has
set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for funeral expenses.
Tiffany
Thomas, 38, was shot and killed at a car wash in Dallas on April 24. She was
deadnamed in some local reports, and her family said she was not transgender,
although she appears to have been gender-nonconforming at the very least.
“Tiffany’s
exact identity may never be known,” Pgh Lesbian Correspondents reports. “The trans
community welcomes and affirms her under the trans umbrella, acknowledging her
death. There’s no shame for someone [assigned male at birth] to be wearing
women’s clothing at a car wash. It certainly doesn’t mean she deserved to die.
[Acceding] to the family’s erasure of Tiffany is not only cowardly but a grave
disservice to other trans women in Dallas. It is a shameful way to behave.”
Dallas police
ask that anyone with information call the department at (469) 475-6004. Also,
CrimeStoppers, reachable at (214) 373-8477, is offering a reward of up to
$5,000 for information that leads to an arrest and indictment.
At least 19
trans, nonbinary, or gender-nonconforming people have died by violence in the
U.S. this year, and it’s likely that many more such deaths have gone
unreported. Last year’s total was a record 44.
“We need
everyone to speak up and speak out in support of transgender people,” said
a statement from Tori Cooper, director of community
engagement for the Human Rights Campaign’s Transgender Justice Initiative. “The
violence must end.”
SOURCE: ADVOCATE
