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QUEENS WEEKLY, MARCH 15, 2020
‘We demand clear action and justice’
Jackson Heights community honors transgender woman killed in Puerto Rico
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
An illustration of Alexa
Negrón Luciano, the transgender
woman who was
killed on her birthday in
Puerto Rico, was perched
at the center of a memorial
surrounded by flowers,
candles, the Puerto Rican
flag and a poster that
read “Transfobia Mata”
(“Transphobia Kills”), all
placed along the wire fence
in front of Manuel De Dios
Unanue Triangle Park on
Roosevelt Avenue and 83rd
Street in Jackson Heights.
A few dozen people gathered
to honor the 29-yearold,
also known as Neulisa
Luciano Ruiz, in a vigil on
March 2.
“The trans women in
New York City send our
support and love for our
trans sisters in Puerto
Rico. We grieve the death
of our sister Alexa, that
day was a day of celebration
for her as it was her
birthday and transphobic
people without empathy
ended her life,” Bianey
Garcia, organizer at Make
the Road NY and Jackson
Heights resident, told QNS
in Spanish.
Several New York Citybased
human rights organizations
led the vigil, including
Make the Road NY,
Decrim NY, Queeramisú
– LGBTQ Leaders of Color
for Progress, NY Anti-Violence
Project, Lorena Borjas
Foundation, Colectivo
Intercultural TRANSgrediendo
and Trans Goofy
Games.
Alexa was found with
multiple gunshot wounds
in the morning of Feb. 24
in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico.
She was homeless and, according
to a Facebook Live
video, had depression.
Before her death, Alexa
was harassed on social media
after someone accused
her of using a mirror to
peep at women inside a
restroom at a fast food restaurant.
Police found there
was no proof of that accusation
— but that didn’t stop
misinformation and transphobic
posts to spread on
social media.
Puerto Rican trans activist Samantha Love was among the members of the Jackson Heights community who gathered for a vigil honoring Alexa, the
transgender woman killed in Puerto Rico, on March 2. Photo: Angélica Acevedo/QNS
A few days before Monday
evening’s vigil, Jackson
Heights-based trans
activist Jennifer Orellana
uploaded a video, saying
in Spanish, “historically,
the government has failed
us in putting a stop to the
femicide in our streets and
it’s time that we take institutional
action.”
Orellana introduced
Puerto Rican trans activist
Samantha Love at Monday’s
vigil, who gave a stirring
speech in Spanish about the
challenges the transgender
community in Latin America
faces everyday.
“Many of our members
have been thrown out to
the streets, but others have
been like Alexa and me
and so many others — we
have escaped a prison,”
Love said. “At an early
age we left the oppression
of fundamentalism, of fanaticism.
We had to face
the world at an early age.
Thank God we could fly,
open our wings and reach
the big city, the Big Apple,
which has made us the
women that you see here
today. ”
Love spoke while holding
a mirror, which symbolized
the mirror Alexa
carried to look behind her
back, for safety reasons.
She then noted that this is
the third major case of a
hate crime in Puerto Rico
within the last few years.
Love called for justice
for Kevin Fret, a 24-yearold
artist who was killed
last year, Ruben Baez Garcia,
a nurse who was found
dead in a motel almost four
years ago, and now, Alexa.
A video of the moments
that led up to Alexa’s death
was posted on Snapchat.
In the video, Alexa is seen
walking away from a group
of people who followed and
threatened her before gunshots
are heard.
Puerto Rico police said
they were investigating
three men — one of whom
is a minor — in connection
with her murder, but
there have been no arrests
or updates of the case as of
March 3, according to Noticel.
Police also said one
of the people interviewed
said the gunshots heard in
the video came from a BB
gun.
“We are very angry because
the video of her death
was published on social
media and the authorities
have not given or arrested
her attackers, so from NYC
we are demanding clear
actions and justice from
the police of Puerto Rico,
so that Alexa’s death does
not go unpunished,” Garcia
said.
Samy Nemir-Olivares,
who’s running for District
Leader in Brooklyn’s 53rd
Assembly District, was
one of the speakers at Monday’s
vigil. Nemir-Olivares
told QNS that the fact that
Alexa’s death was filmed
and shared on social media
demonstrates that it was a
hate crime.
“We demand not only
the local government but
the federal government to
step in,” Nemir-Olivares
said. “We need actions that
demonstrate that we stand
with the transgender community
and the LGBTQ
community.”
Nemir-Olivares called
for policy from the Puerto
Rican government that
shows that they stand with
the transgender and LGBTQ+
community.
“Because let’s be clear,
the government killed Alexa,”
Nemir-Olivares said.
“Our inaction, transgender
negligence, killed Alexa
and so many LGBTQ
people in Puerto Rico, who
are still suffering.”
CBS News’ correspondent
David Begnaud said
the FBI started a hate
crime investigation on
March 3, based on the
video that was spread on
social media.
In the wake of Alexa’s
death, many news outlets
in Puerto Rico not only
misgendered her but also
addressed her in headlines
as “a man wearing a skirt”
or “a man dressed as a
woman.”
Garcia said she wants
to send the media a clear
message when writing
about trans people.
“We are in the 21st century
and apparently many
people live under rocks
or they don’t want to accept
that trans people exist
too,” Garcia said. “Expressing
my gender does
not make me a criminal,
wearing women’s clothing
does not justify me being
subjected to violence to
lose my life.”