#Tahiry Broom

[nephyria]

Users in my tags made me aware that the first hyperlink's article had been edited to reflect transphobic journalism practices. It's been replaced. Unfortunately, the link doesn't update universally across all reblogs. If you see the originally linked article, please exercise caution and take care of yourself.

I see a lot of people bringing attention to Sam Nordquist's murder, and the fundraiser for his funeral. What he went through was horrible, and I wish he'd experienced this kind of support in life as well. Thank you to the community and our allies for speaking up for him.

Around the same time the news about his murder was breaking, a Black trans woman was also murdered in my neck of the woods. Her name was Tahiry Broom. Her family says she loved making people laugh, that she was full of energy and confidence. She was only 29. (UPDATE on this link: In the original article linked in the most popular version of this post, her identity as a trans woman was edited to a much more transphobic phrasing a day or two afterwards. The new link contains all the previous information, correct phrasing, and updated info.)

Her murderer called 33 sex workers, several of whom were also trans women. He had no money on him. He intended to rob and/or kill at least one woman that day, who he felt society wouldn't rally for or miss. She was just the woman who fell into that category, for him.

Please donate to the GoFundMe organized by her aunt, Patricia Bender. Tahiry deserved so much better. She deserved a full life. Her family is trying to make sure she's surrounded by love in death. From the date of this post (Feb. 18, 2025), it's 4 days until her service (Feb. 22, 2025).

[vixdesl]

SAY THEIR NAME

Elisa Rae Shupe

a non-binary army veteran, one of the first to have their gender mark changed to an X is found hanging with a trans flag wrapped around them.

article 1 article 2

SAY HER NAME

Tahiry 'Tokyo' Broom

a transgender black woman who was shot and killed in the morning, targeted by a man who called various sex workers and transgender women the morning of.

article 1 article 2 gofundme

SAY HIS NAME

Sam Nordquist

a biracial transgender man that was found, had been lured to a motel by a woman he trusted, he was then abused sexually and tortured for weeks before he died, 5 people had to do with it and it's an ongoing investigation, they're trying to claim it's not a hate crime.

article gofundme

[unusualfaggot]

"It's like, it's really like it got the whole family in like an uproar. It's like one of those things like you don't know what to feel. You wanna be angry, you wanna be sad, you wanna cry, you wanna scream,” Broom's aunt Patricia Bender explained.

Even after the arrest of the person police believe is responsible, there are still a lot of questions going through Bender's mind.

"That brought some peace, but that don't take away the pain,” Bender said. “You just wanna know why, like why did you do that? Why do you feel like she deserved for that to happen, you know, and then that way and that magnitude."

Bender says her niece loved making people laugh, was full of energy and confidence and loved Nicki Minaj.

"Funny, smart like one of those people that can walk into the darkest room and find some light in it," Bender said.

[nephyria]

I see a lot of people bringing attention to Sam Nordquist's murder, and the fundraiser for his funeral. What he went through was horrible, and I wish he'd experienced this kind of support in life as well. Thank you to the community and our allies for speaking up for him.

Around the same time the news about his murder was breaking, a Black trans woman was also murdered in my neck of the woods. Her name was Tahiry Broom. Her family says she loved making people laugh, that she was full of energy and confidence. She was only 29. (UPDATE on this link: In the original article linked in the most popular version of this post, her identity as a trans woman was edited to a much more transphobic phrasing a day or two afterwards. The new link contains all the previous information, correct phrasing, and updated info.)

Her murderer called 33 sex workers, several of whom were also trans women. He had no money on him. He intended to rob and/or kill at least one woman that day, who he felt society wouldn't rally for or miss. She was just the woman who fell into that category, for him.

Please donate to the GoFundMe organized by her aunt, Patricia Bender. Tahiry deserved so much better. She deserved a full life. Her family is trying to make sure she's surrounded by love in death. From the date of this post (Feb. 18, 2025), it's 4 days until her service (Feb. 22, 2025).

[nephyria]

Wanted to address this really quick, because I think it’s so so important, actually. If anyone has questions or comments on this, please put it into my ask box rather than on this post, for reasons I hope will become immediately evident.

In short: Yes! Exactly! That is a serious factor in why Tahiry was targeted, and it is why so many other women could’ve met the same fate. That particular tag and that pair of words is why I was so worried her campaign wouldn’t get support, and why I felt it was important to direct attention not only to her funeral campaign, but linked news articles for people who wanted to know about her life.

That particular tag? That set of words? That’s Also part of the reason why I didn’t put it directly in the text more than once, and had to hide it behind hyperlinks. It’s why this screencap doesn’t have alt text (and PLEASE do not add any), and why I’m being so evasive in this reply. If I had said EITHER of those things, three things could’ve happened, either one by one or simultaneously:

The post would be immediately hidden from tags and moderated by Tumblr’s algorithm or moderation team. They do not have good tolerance policies. They do not have good algorithms. I have several photos of beaches that nobody can look at because it’s presumed to be skin. This could also shadow ban my account.

The post would be ignored by the user base. As much as I’d like to say that people here have different feelings about Tahiry’s job than the general population, that often isn’t the case. Even in progressive spaces, her profession is highly stigmatized and shunned.

The post would devolve into discourse. I don’t want that for her. I think her family deserves to have their needs focused on, and commemorating her placed front and center. In one article, her family requested that nobody focus on her job, because they knew the kind of value people would place on her and her coworkers: absolutely nothing. They didn’t want to have to plead for her humanity and make excuses for her. It’s heartbreaking that they felt they needed to do that.

It sucks that we can’t talk about it openly. It sucks that I can’t fully acknowledge her circumstances without losing traction. All I can hope is that people can extrapolate and connect the dots. All I can do is hope that people will remember her as her whole self and think, “she was so important, and now she’s gone. I never want this to happen to anyone else.”

I see a lot of people bringing attention to Sam Nordquist's murder, and the fundraiser for his funeral. What he went through was horrible, and I wish he'd experienced this kind of support in life as well. Thank you to the community and our allies for speaking up for him.

Around the same time the news about his murder was breaking, a Black trans woman was also murdered in my neck of the woods. Her name was Tahiry Broom. Her family says she loved making people laugh, that she was full of energy and confidence. She was only 29.

Her murderer called 33 sex workers, several of whom were also trans women. He had no money on him. He intended to rob and/or kill at least one woman that day, who he felt society wouldn't rally for or miss. She was just the woman who fell into that category, for him.

Please donate to the GoFundMe organized by her aunt, Patricia Bender. Tahiry deserved so much better. She deserved a full life. Her family is trying to make sure she's surrounded by love in death. From the date of this post (Feb. 18, 2025), it's 4 days until her service (Feb. 22, 2025).

[nephyria]

Thank you to everyone who has been reblogging and donating, it means the world to me. Her goal set yesterday is past $7,500! It looks like Ms. Bender has GFM’s automatic goal adjustment thingy on, so it adjusted the goal to $10,000. The average funeral in the USA costs between $6,500 and $12,000, depending on venue, preparation for viewing, burial or cremation, etc., so she can be laid to rest within that range.

Genuinely, I’m in tears. You folks raised about $1,000 in a day, mostly in small-dollar amounts. You’ve all been incredibly generous to Tahiry’s family in a horrible time. Thank you so much for caring for her and for her family.

I know we’re all passing around the same $20; if you know any Black trans folks who are struggling right now, pass that $20 to them first. But if you have a little extra, I hope you’ll put it towards giving Tahiry’s family time to mourn and remember her properly.

I see a lot of people bringing attention to Sam Nordquist's murder, and the fundraiser for his funeral. What he went through was horrible, and I wish he'd experienced this kind of support in life as well. Thank you to the community and our allies for speaking up for him.

Around the same time the news about his murder was breaking, a Black trans woman was also murdered in my neck of the woods. Her name was Tahiry Broom. Her family says she loved making people laugh, that she was full of energy and confidence. She was only 29.

Her murderer called 33 sex workers, several of whom were also trans women. He had no money on him. He intended to rob and/or kill at least one woman that day, who he felt society wouldn't rally for or miss. She was just the woman who fell into that category, for him.

Please donate to the GoFundMe organized by her aunt, Patricia Bender. Tahiry deserved so much better. She deserved a full life. Her family is trying to make sure she's surrounded by love in death. From the date of this post (Feb. 18, 2025), it's 4 days until her service (Feb. 22, 2025).