On eve of Transgender Day of Remembrance, two trans women killed in the US

Two trans women were slain only days before Transgender Day of Remembrance as an “epidemic of violence” tightens its chokehold on the US.

Angel Naira, a 36-year-old Black trans healthcare worker described as a “great person” by her loved ones, was fatally shot in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, 11 November.

While Danyale Johnson, a 35-year-old Black trans woman, was found dead in a Memphis, Tennessee, parking lot after her shooter left her bleeding as they stole her vehicle on 13 November.

But because both were misgendered and deadnamed by the authorities and news outlets alike, it was not known until this week that Naira and Johnson are the latest victims of a grisly wave of transphobic violence.

Naira and Johnson are the 47th and 48th trans, non-binary or gender non-conforming people respectively to have been violently killed in the US, according to Human Rights Campaign, an LGBT+ campaign group that has been documenting the slayings since 2013.