In 2023 at least 14 transgender and gender nonconforming people have been killed in the U.S. That's according to the Human Rights Campaign, a group that has tracked fatal transgender violence for the last decade.
Fatal violence disproportionately affects transgender women of color — particularly Black transgender women.
In Milwaukee, three Black trans women were shot and killed over a span of nine months between June 2022 and February 2023. Their names were Brazil Johnson, Regina “Mya” Allen and Cashay Henderson.
They were active in the community, part of local organizations and loved by their families and friends.
To gauge how other Black trans women in Milwaukee have been impacted by the deaths of their peers, and how trans women are talked about in the media WUWM’s Race & Ethnicity Reporter Teran Powell held a roundtable discussion.
The guests were Vogue McKinney, an educator, entertainer and transgender outreach coordinator with Diverse & Resilient. Demi Jo Carr, a consultant in public health and health equity in Milwaukee; Sevyn Lockett, a community advocate and a prep navigator at Vivent Health; and Elle Halo, a board member of Diverse & Resilient and an LGBTQ+ advocate in Milwaukee.
