Friends, family and supporters gathered today at Niagara Square to celebrate the life of Tonya “Kita” Harvey, a transgender woman who was murdered earlier this month.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, four transgender people, including Tonya, have been murdered in 2018. 2017 saw a record number of fatalities among transgender people. Angela Burnham attended Sunday’s vigil.
“I didn’t know Tonya personally, but whenever someone in our community is murdered it hits me, it hurts. I’m a transgender woman myself. I served seven years in the United States Military and I come home to a country that barely even tolerates our existence. It’s not okay,” Burnham said.
The District Attorney’s Office is looking into the murder of Harvey as possibly being a hate crime. Queers for Racial Justice, an equality group, released a statement saying while they are glad the investigation is being taken seriously in regards to the hate crime laws, they believe current hate crime laws are “not enforced equitably.”
