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Remembering one of our own
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Posted on Nov 01 2021
Hafa adai, Champions of LGBTQ+ rights and equality here in the CNMI! We are very grateful for all you do for our community.
November is Transgender Awareness Month. Nov. 13-19 is Transgender Awareness Week and Nov. 20 is Transgender Day of Remembrance.
We lift up, amplify and celebrate the accomplishments and contributions of all transgender individuals to our community. Transgender folks have been the backbone and the face of activism for the LGBTQ+ community starting with the Stonewall Riots. This month, the LGBTQ+ community, our friends, family and allies come together in solidarity for the trans community.
In Washington County, Oregon, on the morning of Aug. 29, 2001, a jogger made a gruesome discovery in a field that’s off Southwest Farmington Road, not far from Southwest Rood Bridge Road.
Investigators say the body of 28-year-old Loni Kai was left there. The transgender woman’s head had been badly beaten. Loni Kai was one of our own—a resident of Chalan Lau Lau, Saipan, a sister to all of us. For a video of this case, click here: https://www.kptv.com/cold-case-transgender-womans-killing-is-one-of-few-unsolved-hate-crimes-in-washington-county/video_da614419-853e-5065-b300-0ecadfe91299.html.
This Transgender Day of Remembrance on Nov. 20, 2021, we not only remember the multitude of transgender individuals who have been brutally murdered but we also remember one of our own, Loni Kai Okaruru.
Tyra Lyn Sablan
Founder, T-Project
