In Memoriam
Demita Jo Armstrong
Washington, DC
Demita enjoyed a celebration, especially Halloween. Much of her Facebook was dedicated to pictures and memories of enjoying the spooky season, including opinions on Neve Campbell in Scream. Outside of Halloween, she also looked forward to other celebrations like CarFest, baby showers for friends, and soca nights at local DC-area nightclubs. She also enjoyed posting pictures of meals enjoyed and giving cutting comments to fools she didn’t suffer.
Onteris Owens-Campbell
Fayetteville, NC
Many people first noticed Onteris when she went viral with a Vine video, dancing to Rihanna’s “The Monster.” Along with dancing, her other major passion was dressing up and taking selfies of herself looking marvelous all over town. She loved modelling her fashion sense for the world to see and was unashamed to do so.
Jesse Viviano White
Muskego, WI
According to his business partner, Jesse was both an excellent leader and someone they personally enjoyed being around. A co-founder of Dezjorn International, he helped establish both a clothing line and a magazine (Black T) dedicated and catering to the Black trans experience. Outside of the business, his social media zoned in on a variety of issues affecting both Black trans men and young people in general, with a recurring theme of advocating helping those with student debt being a key theme. Jesse also highlighted the fun he often had in his life, like seeing Hamilton multiple times, several adventures in snow tubing, and the constant adventures in cooking he shared with this friends. Sir J, as he was also known, lived life and always thanked God for every moment of it.
Star Possum
Tiverton, RI
Star believed in being an activist to many causes, especially trans rights, fat activism, and reproductive rights. Self-described as a "Florida swamp cat living in New England," he often mixed his boldness and strong advocacy with radical softness. He loved going cycling and checking out nature during the day and out to clubs and karaoke with friends at night. He also adored his love-bug of a dog and peppered everything with his special brand of humor.
Jermaine Golden
Blackstone, MA
Jermaine’s daily life mixed the practical and homemade with absolute flamboyance. There are very few people who could tinker with gadgets and use cast iron skillets while dressing in bright pastel and neon jackets. He sang in an a cappella group, would perform around the scene as the Golden Boy, and even co-wrote a musical. He took the Do-It-Yourself lifestyle and showed how wild and exciting it could be. He was truly beloved by both the New England and Oregon trans+ communities.
Meghan Riley Lewis
Bel Air, MD
As Baltimore as blue crabs covered in Old Bay, Meghan was a mother both to her two children and to her community, always telling them to "stay sparkly." She had quit a lucrative career in Corporate America to found a support group for trans patients coming to Baltimore for gender-affirming surgery and care. It completed her as a person to help others not just with their health but also working with the homeless and the hungry. She also could be quite passionate about music, dedicating time to being a Deadhead and active in the local alt-rock scene. That dedication to keeping things local also extended to her beloved home teams in sports and the many businesses she helped support. She was Baltimore to the bone.
Zoey Flye
Trenton, NJ
Adopting a dog named Max from the local SPCA was fitting for Zoey, since she loved animals so much. She loved using her skills with strategy in online games with friends and board games with her family. She also was starting to take trips away from the United States, going with some high school friends to explore Japan and take a needed break from her job as a driver for Amazon. She will be missed dearly.
Madison Montana
Los Angeles, CA
Along with their ukulele Mercy, Madison loved playing and singing out in nature. They helped their friends find their confidence and coming out of their shells, all while strumming along on Mercy and using their boundless creativity to be a beacon. They were often known for being goofy and compassionate, not unlike the Nintendo characters in the Kirby and Donkey Kong games they loved playing in her downtime. They shined so that the world around them became brighter.
Care Hansen
Riverton, UT
Care loved animals so much that they took in all sorts of animals, often “ugly” ones: turtles, snakes, rats, bees, various kinds of birds. They loved the fluffy ones too, having a cat growing up and adopting a Siberian Husky named Mollie as they got older.
This love for animals also extended to caring about people too, becoming a Certified Nursing Assistant while in high school and volunteered as a camp counselor at an adaptive summer camp. They were active with their local LGBTQ community and participated with Encircle, LoveLoud, and the Utah Pride Festival. They combined this love for helping people with their love of travel by visiting up to 21 countries before 20. They also acted in various movies and television shows as an extra and impressed casting directors enough to bring them back.
Amber Minor
Baytown, MO
Amber’s friends often describe her as a warrior in her life, resilient and persistent with a strong will but also full of laughter. She was “fun-loving, loud, didn’t take no mess and loved to dress” in the best possible clothes – mostly in her favorite color pink - while going out on the town. Her closest friend from childhood summed her up as someone who “built up a strong outer appearance where we didn’t give a fuck about how anyone looked at us.”
Ashlei Jasmine Colgate-Edwards
Salt Lake City, UT
Ashlei served in the U.S. Army as a paralegal supervisor for eight years, which she described as “a wonderful and unforgettable experience,” and left with an honorable discharge to pursue a career in media production and acting. She was so passionate about it that she eventually founded her own production company TV I.M.A.G.E. in the Houston area. Along with production, she also wrote screenplays and had one of them filmed called “Family After All.” She loved her work and had the plans to pull it off how she wanted.
Fleetwood Mars Mozee
Milwaukie, OR
Fleetwood always brought a good vibe, according to his friends. He was often low-key and low-stress, living for rest and relaxation whenever they could. He also loved photography and often experimented with how light and color interacted with each other. His preferred subject was self-portraiture, saying he utilized it “to prove to myself that i exist, that i am real. i think it's power and salience continues to be palpable in todays current landscape.”
When not taking photos, Fleetwood was active in the larger Portland, Oregon LGBTQIA+ community, especially veterans' causes. Originally from Calgary, he was a key member of Calgary Outlink and brought his experience with him to Oregon in 2015. While at the Multnomah County Veteran’s Services, he worked as a veterans’ services officer helping those who needed assistance in getting benefits and trauma support. To quote a family member, “Fleetwood never wasted a moment of his life. The extent to which he created community and gave so much is immense and overwhelming.”
Shelby “Lexus” Riddick-Walker
Norfolk, VA
Lexus lived a servant leader’s life, sharing her exuberance with those she helped. She worked in a career with diverse environments throughout the Hampton Roads area that allowed her to share her love in action, from ACCESS AIDS Care/LGBT Life Center in Norfolk to Chesapeake General Hospital. She worked hard as an advocate to create safe spaces and fight against stereotypes for the local trans+ community. Full of boundless love and a ceaseless desire to help those in need, she deserves not just a bunch but rather a whole field of roses.
Kimbella Blackshear
Trenton, NJ
160,000 followers on Instagram are often hard for any influencer to get. But for Kimbella, it came naturally. Her followers loved her passion for beauty and her totally unique humor (she had a language only she understood, according to those who knew her). She was able to translate into both a lucrative business she ran and modeling gigs for various brands. When she wasn't getting loves on Instagram, she blasted music out of her fast cars with tinted windows. While outgoing and willing to live the wild life, her community of 25 years remember her generosity and respect to them.
Easley Jeffcoat
Sandy Run, SC
Easley often used his creativity for both singing in his chorus and all the living things he loved dearly. Sometimes he would come up with unique names for the animals he had like Pink Floyd the goat, Led Zeppelin the rooster, and his dogs Gypsy Cupcake and Tilly Tilly Moonpie. Other times he would apply that creativity to makeup or working on flowers at the florist shop he delivered for. He also loved going to thrift shops to find vintage clothes and work on them to find new and exciting ways to style them. Easley loved bringing the beauty he found in the world and showing it off to everyone.
Tripp Schultz
Salt Lake City, UT
His big booming laugh was often the first thing that brought Tripp into people’s orbit. He often brought this energy to managing bars and pubs in downtown Salt Lake City, making both his coworkers and his patrons feel welcome and respected. He advocated strongly for the local LGBTQIA+ community and championed safety for children, who loved him for his “goofy-goober” personality. He played bass guitar in a number of bands and was a nerd for old horror movies. He went camping often and worked with his hands as a carpenter and a car mechanic in his spare time. He found robotics, space exploration, and theoretical physics awesome. Tripp was fascinated by the universe and loved everyone who entered his orbit, with them loving him immensely in return.
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