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Ballroom Legend and Trans Activist Jahaira DeAlto Murdered at 43

HeadlineMay 04, 2021

The transgender community is mourning the loss of ballroom legend and activist Jahaira DeAlto, who was fatally stabbed in Boston Sunday. She was 43 years old. DeAlto belonged to the House of Balenciaga, which said in a statement, “Let us not forget her ongoing work against domestic abuse and continue to uplift her name and ensure her memory lives on in this ironic twist of fate.”

DeAlto was also a caregiver for other members of the trans community. Last year on Mother’s Day, DeAlto wrote on Twitter, “I am the mother who raised the children whose rainbow sparkled too brightly and blinded their birth moms. I cherished what they discarded. … For their babies who still needed raising. I did that.”

DeAlto is at least the 21st trans person to be killed in the U.S. in 2021, with activists worrying this year is on track to become the deadliest for trans people.

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