2024 Year in Review

Happy New Year from the Trans Doe Task Force. It likely may not feel like a happy one in light of what LGBTQIA+ people in the United States are faced with this coming year, but we must advocate for our dignity and our rights, and keep hope alive. It has been especially difficult for the leadership of TDTF, as we are all not only Trans, but are parents of Trans kids as well. The hard truth is that our work is more important than ever.

Statistics of violence towards LGBTQIA+ people continue to rise, and are especially high in states with extensive anti-Trans legislation, with Texas and Florida at the forefront. According to the Human Rights Campaign's 2024 report on hate-based violence towards Transgender people, Trans women of color continue to be disproportionately targeted, comprising 61% of Transgender victims of fatal violence. Our LAMMP (LGBTQ+ Accountability for Missing and Murdered Persons) database shows a strikingly high count of missing and unidentified people of color. Also, this year we have seen an increase in both the total number of names (2024: 426 entries; 2023: 392) and the percentage of entries listed as "name unknown" (2024: 11.7%; 2023: 9.4%) on the Transgender Day of Remembrance list of names. We read the unnamed entries as part of our yearly virtual TDOR vigil. You can read the list and watch the replay of the event here.

This past year, we added 209 unidentified deceased people and 1021 missing persons cases to the LAMMP database. Additionally, we added 29 new cases of unclaimed remains. The database currently includes cases from 30 different countries. Our forensic genetic genealogy team is awaiting DNA data for a few cases that have been in the lab stage, and we are in preparations to get several more sent off to labs. If you are a loved one or investigator who would like our assistance on a case, please email us.

Here are some of our notable successes from 2024:

In April, we announced that our forensic genetic genealogy team had identified Owensboro KY 1990 Doe as William Dennis Mathews. We presented our candidate for identification in 2023 and had been awaiting confirmation since then. From our announcement, regarding Mr. Mathews not being found to have been LGBTQ: "While the Trans Doe Task Force aims to work on LGBTQ+ cases, when a victim is a Doe and we do not know their identity or how they identified, we can only rely on clues that a case might fall under our umbrella of services. Not every Doe we identify will turn out to be LGBTQ+. Regardless, we are very happy to have been able to provide information to assist with the identification of a person whose name was unknown for far too long." We thank the Kentucky State Medical Examiner's Office for entrusting us with this case, and offer our sincere condolences to Mr. Mathew's loved ones.

Additionally, we aided in the identification of 80 year old Transgender woman Cathy Van Bruggen of Chicago, and Pepper Mychael Peterson of Jacksonville, Florida, via our LAMMP database.

In May, Dane County WI "Chimney" Doe was announced as having been identified as Ronnie Joe Kirk. This case was one of the first that TDTF ever researched, before we incorporated as a nonprofit or had our own genealogy team, and we facilitated the submission of this case to the DNA Doe Project back in 2019. Then this year, following the identification, the Detective on the case contacted the Trans Doe Task Force and asked for our assistance in the continued investigation into the circumstances of his death. If you have any information about Ronnie, please see our case page for further information.

For several months now, we have been collaborating with the Rainbow Search Network/Red de Búsqueda Arcoiris, an inter-agency group dedicated to searching for LGBTQIA+ missing persons in Colombia following the decades-long armed conflict. Our collaboration is ongoing, and we will share updates whenever possible. We thank them for their difficult work, and for reaching out to us.

The Trans Doe Task Force will continue to stand for justice for the lost and unnamed LGBTQIA+ individuals. We care about all members of our community, and will continue to hold space for our collective grief and fear. In November, we provided a resource list for Queer people in need of various kinds of support. We encourage you to use these resources, and please contact us if you have any others that you think we should add.

Finally, we would like to thank those who have supported, donated and awarded grants to the Trans Doe Task Force this past year. We depend on you to be able to serve our community. In 2025, we would like to prioritize cases of BIPOC Trans women. Any individual donations received during 2025 will be earmarked specifically for these cases.

Hail the unknown dead, and fight like hell for the living.

Sincerely,
Trans Doe Task Force - Board of Directors
Dr. Anthony Redgrave, Ed.D.
Lee Bingham Redgrave
Viktor Veltstra