Support Michelle Henry's Legacy

Hi, if you are reading this then you must have known "Michelle Henry" or heard of the news and situation with this case in San Francisco. I am her Uncle. Winston "Neo" Henry. I am deeply sadden by this situation but this universe has it's own ideas and I can only think it's for good reasoning. With that being said, I am here and I will be laying this beautiful soul to rest.

This "GoFundMe" is to be a contribution in her honor and I can tell you ALL funds will be either donated OR used in the creating a function/foundation in her honor.

As her Uncle, I did not get my chance to watch her florist and it saddens me and my family that our opportunity was taken away from us. I will surely do our best to make sure we honor her and the souls she touched while trying to create a better world.

VIA SOURCE (Humans Right Campaign)

Michelle Henry, a 25-year-old Black transgender woman, was active in the queer community through her involvement with the San Francisco LBGT Center youth program. She often was referred to as a “ray of light” by the center’s Executive Director Rebecca Rolfe. In an emotional funeral service announcement via Instagram post , Mother Bar—a queer bar based in San Francisco—acknowledged Michelle’s impact on the local LGBTQ+ community saying, “The tapestry of who she was will continue to be woven through our words - written and spoken - for a lifetime.”

Sadly, on May 15, 2024, in San Francisco, California, Michelle was found strangled and stabbed to death by the San Francisco police department (SFPD) after receiving a report there was a physical altercation between two people on the 700 block of Post Street. According to a news release issued by SFPD, police responded at 1:44PM to the report where they found Michelle lying on the ground suffering from multiple stab wounds and despite officers’ attempts to revive her, Michelle was pronounced dead at the scene. Officers detained a female suspect who is awaiting trial.

Michelle was a dynamic Black young transgender woman who still had so much life to live and it breaks my heart to know her life was cut short due to senseless violence. Once again, we are mourning the loss of someone for simply being themselves. Losing your life simply for living your truth is a harsh reality that we too often face as Black trans women. We can end the trend of violence against the trans community.”

Tori Cooper, Human Rights Campaign Trans Justice Initiative Director

Michelle is at least the 15th transgender or gender-expansive person to lose their life to fatal violence in 2024, and at least the third person to lose their life in May alone. We say “at least '' because, far too often, these deaths are underreported or misreported. Michelle is the second trans or gender-expansive person to be killed in California this year and is at least the 25th trans or gender-expansive person killed in the state since HRC began tracking fatal violence in 2013.

At the state and many municipal levels, transgender and gender-expansive people in California are explicitly protected from discrimination in employment, housing, education and public spaces. California does include sexual orientation and/or gender identity as a protected characteristic in its hate crimes law. Though we have recently seen some political gains that support and affirm transgender people, we have also faced unprecedented anti-LGBTQ+ attacks in the states. In June 2023, the Human Rights Campaign declared a National State of Emergency for LGBTQ+ Americans, as a result of the more than 550 anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced into state houses that year, over 80 of which were signed into law—more than in any other year. As of this writing, almost 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced into state houses since the beginning of 2024, with 33 signed into law.

We must demand better from our elected officials and reject harmful anti-transgender legislation at the local, state and federal levels, while also considering every possible way to make ending this violence a reality. It is clear that fatal violence disproportionately affects transgender women of color, especially Black transgender women. The intersections of racism, transphobia, sexism, biphobia and homophobia conspire to deprive them of necessities to live and thrive, so we must all work together to cultivate acceptance, reject hate and end stigma for everyone in the trans and gender-expansive community.