14 trans youth have died violently since 2022 in the US — Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents

The brutal murder of 14 year old Pauly Likens in Western Pennsylvania is far from an isolated incident..

Looking through my archive of memorial posts, I found 14 listings of youth and young adults 21 and under. That’s a span of 18 months, averaging nearly one trans youth brutally murdered each month. They represent more than 20% of the deaths I’ve reported in that time span. Data for 2023 and 2024.

From January 2021- June 2022, I memorialized 13 youth in that same age range. Their deaths represent 17% of the memorials written during that time frame.

Causes are similar to older victims — gun violence, domestic violence, robberies. dating apps, ‘trans panic’ by transphobic individuals. workplace violence. Including Pauly, three were murdered and dismembered — Jacob Williamson and Ryan Zimmerman. Ryan’s murder took place in Colombus, just several hours from Merer County.

There’s another trend — the murderers are also young. Usually, early to mid twenties.

While young people may be more affirming than previous generations, young trans folx still face a hostile, vicious reality. The vitriol and ignorance of MAGA culture flows from the voting booth to the children of those voters, immersed in rhetoric of hatred, violence, and bitterness. Their economy is ruinous, their climate changing inexorably, and their futures uncertain. Those are realities that stem from…