Outside of the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center on West Court Street Wednesday night, dozens of friends, family and community members gathered for a vigil for trans lives.
Elle Halo, a board member of Diverse & Resilient, led the call and response: "When I say trans, y'all say power."
The vigil comes on the heels of the February 26 murder of a Black transgender woman in Milwaukee named Cashay Henderson.
Halo described Henderson as a beautiful young lady. Halo worked with Henderson through a Diverse & Resilient program known as SHEBA, Sisters Helping Each Other Battle Adversity. The program supports and empowers transgender women as a space solely for them.
"Although her story has been cut short, she was already a survivor. She was one of us, looked and breathed and walked and hoped like us. Grew up with us. She was already a survivor of violence," Halo said. "She was already strong and resilient, and smart and ambitious. She had hopes for her future."
Halo says Henderson knew struggle and hard work, yet still had a spirit and laughter that could not be broken. Halo added that Henderson was brave enough to live in her truth.
"She is the sixth trans person, nationally, to be killed so far in 2023. It’s not a game or an exaggeration for us to acknowledge that what has happened to her can be any one of us."
The vigil was also a moment to uplift more names of those in Milwaukee’s LGBTQ+ community that have been killed in the last 9 months.
In addition to Henderson, three other Black trans women, Brazil Johnson, Toi Davis, and Regina “Mya” Allen, were killed in June, July and August 2022, respectively. And Dedrick Cross, also an LGBTQ+ identifying person, was killed in September 2022.
Aaleh Hughes, a youth program director with the center, says Henderson’s death was a wakeup call for her, and it impacted the whole LGBTQ+ community.
"Living in Milwaukee has become extremely dangerous to us. It has come dangerous to where us trans women do not even want to come out the house because we’re in fear that we will be next. I don’t wanna be on a poster that’s saying R.I.P.," Hughes said.
Hughes says this is why she continues to work with community leaders to establish programming that supports and protects trans women. She added that trans women have to come together as one to make an impact.
On Wednesday, a suspect in Cashay Henderson’s murder was arrested.
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