Vanity Williams, Dylan Gurley, Diamond Brigman

Equality Texas hosts Transgender Day of Remembrance Exhibition and Vigil

MELISSA WHITLER | NBCU Fellow
Melissa@DallasVoice.com

Beginning Friday, Nov. 1, Equality Texas — in partnership with BTAC, Nu Trans Movement, HRC and other community partners — will display Lost Faces, a Transgender Day of Remembrance exhibit, at The Space, 1412 Main St. in Dallas.

There will be a grand opening ceremony on Sunday, Nov. 3, at 4 p.m., and the exhibit will be on display in The Space until the Transgender Day of Remembrance Vigil on Nov. 23.

Transgender Day of Remembrance has been observed every year on Nov. 20 since 1999 to honor lives lost in acts of anti-transgender violence. It was started by Gwendolyn Ann Smith as a vigil to honor the memory of Rita Hester, a transgender woman murdered in 1998 and all the transgender people lost to violence since her death.

It is a day to honor the trans people who have died from anti-transgender bigotry and violence and affirm transgender people’s right to exist. The Human Rights Campaign has documented the violent deaths of at least 27 transgender and gender expansive people in 2024 alone.

Gordy Carmona is the main organizer of the exhibit this year. Lost Faces honors the memory of trans and gender expansive individuals lost to violence over the past 10 years in Texas. This includes three transgender women killed in Texas earlier this year: Dylan Gurley, Vanity Williams and Diamond Brigman.

Dyland Gurley was a transgender woman from Little Elm. She was killed in Denton on July 23. Gurley was only 20 years old when she was found by police in an abandoned home, unconscious and suffering from multiple stab wounds.

Vanity Williams was shot and killed in Houston on Aug. 3. The 34-year-old transgender woman was found with gunshot wounds in the lobby of her apartment building. Diamond Brigman was killed March 26 in a drive-by shooting as she was standing on a Houston street.

According to the Transgender Law Center, there have been at least 148 violent deaths of transgender individuals reported in the United States since 2017. Almost 10 percent of those incidents happened in Texas.

Unfortunately, the violence does not end with death. Trans people are often misgendered and deadnamed by police, media and, sometimes, family after they have died, denying their identity even after they are gone.

Transgender Day of Remembrance is not only a time to honor those who have been lost to anti-trans violence but also to think about what you can do to support the living transgender and gender non-conforming people in your life. Equality Texas has many resources on its website for those looking to learn and take action.

The exhibition will be open to the public on Thursdays and Fridays, from 4-7 p.m. or by appointment at The Space, 1412 Main St., Dallas. To schedule a tour of the exhibition, send inquiries to field@equalitytexas.org. For more information visit Secure.EveryAction.com/Wte0Oa6MH0KL5ItpD3qM7Q2.

………………..

SAY THEIR NAMES

At least 27 transgender/gender queer/gender expansive people have died by violence so far in 2024, according to Human Rights Campaign, which maintains an online memorial to these victims. Of those 27, 63 percent were killed with a gun, 38 percent of those with a known killer were killed by a romantic/sexual partner, friend or family member; and 37 percent were dead-named or misgendered by authorities or the press.

Here is the list of victims who died this year:
• Kassim Omar, 29, a refugee from Somalia settled in Columbus, Ohio. She was shot in 2022 and left paralyzed and confined to a nursing home. She succumbed
to her injuries on Sept. 6 this year.
• Redd, aka Barbie, 25, shot and killed in Chicago on Sept. 8.
• Vanity Williams, 34, an Air Force veteran who was shot to death in Houston on  Aug. 3.
• Tai’Vion Lathan, 24, found dead in an East Baltimore neighborhood on Aug. 4.
• Dylan Gurley, 20, stabbed and strangled to death in Denton on July 23.
• Monique Brooks, 49, shot to death in Orlando, Fla., on July 19.
• Kenji Spurgeon, 23, shot to death in Seattle on July 1.
• Shannon Boswell, 30, killed in Atlanta on July 2.
• Pauly Likens, 14, was last seen alive June 23 in Morristown, N.J.; her dismembered body was found June 25 in the Shenango River Lake in western Pennsylvania.
• Liara Tsai, 35, found dead in a vehicle following a crash in Iowa, with evidence indicating she was killed prior to the crash.
• Jazlynn Johnson, 18, murdered May 6 in Las Vegas.
• Yella (Robert) Clark Jr., 45, killed in a  fight with other inmates on April 2 while serving a life sentence in Louisiana’s Angola prison.
• Michelle Henry, 25, stabbed to death  on May 15 in San Francisco.
• Brandon “TayyDior” Thomas, 17, shot and killed May 7 in Mobile, Ala.
• Reyna Hernandez, 54, shot to death in Renton, Wash., on Feb. 26.
• Kita Bee, 46, killed in a hit-and-run on May 3.
• Starr Brown, shot to death April 19 in Memphis.
• Sasha Williams, 36, stabbed to death in Las Vegas on Jan. 26.
• Andrea Doria Dos Passos, killed in Miami on April 23.
• River Neveah Goddard, found stabbed to death on April 5.
• Tee “Legend Billions” Arnold, 36, shot to death in Hallandale Beach, Fla., on April 3.
• Africa Parrilla “Emma” Garcia, 25, shot to death in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Feb. 2.
• Meraxes Medina, 24, shot to death March 21 in Los Angeles.
• Alex Taylor Franco, 21, shot to death in Taylorsville, Utah, on March 17.
• Diamond Brigman, 26, killed in a drive-by shooting in Houston on March 16.
• Righteous TK “Chevy” Hill, 35, shot to death Feb. 28 in East Point, Ga.
• Kitty Monroe, 43, killed Jan. 1 in Phoenix.