Also.Also.Also: This Has Been a Deadly Month for Black Trans People

There’s no other way to say this really: This iteration of Also.Also.Also is full of death. There are mentions of anti-trans violence, domestic violence, violence toward Black femmes and gender-nonconforming individuals, as well as global violence like the genocide in Gaza. If skipping it sounds like the best thing for you right now, I encourage you to do so.


Queer as in F*ck You

Them recently reported on the deaths of two Black trans femmes and a Black gender-nonconforming person in different parts of the country that occurred throughout October:

Lisa Love, a Black Trans Woman “Who Was Always Smiling,” Killed in Chicago. On October 17, 35-year-old Black trans woman Lisa Love was walking home from a friend’s house in Chicago when she was shot and killed. According to the report: “Family members told the station that they believed that Love was targeted because she is trans.” Love was described by her cousin as “always smiling and laughing.” As Them reports, Love’s death came only four days after Dominic Dupree, a 25-year-old Black gender-nonconforming person also known as Dominic Palace, was shot and killed in an alley in Chicago. Thirty-year-old Black trans woman A’nee Roberson was also killed in DC this month.

London Price, a Black Trans Woman Who Would “Give You the Shirt Off Her Back,” Was Killed in Miami. This report is extremely brutal, and I won’t go into all the details of the full story here. Twenty-six-year-old Black trans woman London Price was killed by her ex-boyfriend in her own home in Miami-Dade County.

With Price’s death, Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents, which tracks deadly violence against trans and gender-nonconforming people in America and Puerto Rico, reports 35 trans people have been killed this year. That last link includes a list of all of their names. It’s also important to remember that 35 is only an estimate as some deaths go un-reported or otherwise obscure people’s transness.


Saw This, Thought of You

Dispatches on the War on Gaza. This polyphonic piece includes missives from a civil rights attorney, a Jewish doctoral candidate from a family of Israeli immigrants, a member of the Palestinian Youth Movement, and many more. My friend Bobuq Sayed contributes, writing on the violent and racist suppression of pro-Palestinian movements and displays of solidarity in Berlin.

The World Has Never Cared About Gaza’s Suffering. Note that the death toll in Gaza is already significantly higher than this piece reflects, and it was only published six days ago.

Neo-Nazis and the Far-Right Are Trying to Hijack Pro-Palestine Protests.

A Palestinian Meditation in a Time of Annihilation. “Israel and the United States erase even Palestinian ghosts from existence.”


Political Snacks

Honestly, I’m so frustrated by and angry at most politicians right now, so it was hard to find any stories to put here that didn’t remind me of that frustration. Instead, here are some dispatches from Congresspeople who have called for a ceasefire in Gaza:


One More Thing

A poem:

Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?

Join AF+!

Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya

Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya is the managing editor of Autostraddle and a lesbian writer of essays, short stories, and pop culture criticism living in Orlando. She is the assistant managing editor of TriQuarterly, and her short stories appear or are forthcoming in McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, Joyland, Catapult, The Offing, and more. Some of her pop culture writing can be found at The A.V. Club, Vulture, The Cut, and others. You can follow her on Twitter or Instagram and learn more about her work on her website.

Kayla has written 941 articles for us.

2 Comments

Contribute to the conversation...

Yay! You've decided to leave a comment. That's fantastic. Please keep in mind that comments are moderated by the guidelines laid out in our comment policy. Let's have a personal and meaningful conversation and thanks for stopping by!