In Memoriam 2020: Part 2

Here is the second list of lgbt people who passed away during 2020.

Rich Thigpen, d. 6 June 2020. American comic book expert. He was heavily involved in Prism Comics, an organisation supporting and promoting lgbt comic and graphic novel artists and illustrators. He edited “Gay Agenda” and the annual “Prism Comics: Your LGBT Guide to Comics”, a publication produced for mainstream comic conventions.

Jon Gee, b. 29 July 1945, d. 14 June 2020. Co-founder of the National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays. Participated in the 1963 March on Washington in which Martin Luther King made his famous “Dream” speech.

Sarah Hegazi, b. 1989, d. 14 June 2020. Egyptian asylum seeker in Canada; imprisoned in Egypt for flying the rainbow Pride flag.

James Furlong, b. 1984, d. 20 June 2020, teacher. Head of History, Holt School, Wokingham, England; Joe Ritchie-Bennett, b. 1981, d. 20 June 2020, American-born employee of a Dutch pharmaceutical company in Reading; and Dr. David Wails, b. 1971, d. 20 June 2020, Senior principal scientist with Johnson Matthey, a global chemicals company. All three were murdered while enjoying meeting up in a local park after the national pandemic lockdown was relaxed.

Angela Madsen, b. 10 May 1960, d. 20 June 2020. American Paralympian who competed in rowing and track and field athletics, winning a bronze medal at London 2012 in shot put. She held over a dozen world records in rowing, including the oldest solo female rower. She died during her trans-Pacific rowing attempt.

Harry Britt, b. 8 June 1938, d. 24 June 2020. Elected member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors 1979-92 in succession to the assassinated Harvey Milk. President of the Board of Supervisors 1989-90.

Tony Fenwick, b. 26 Mar. 1960, d. 8 July 2020. Co-founder LGBT History Month UK, and CEO of Schools OUT, an organisation for lgbt teachers and educators. He was awarded an OBE (officer of the Order of the British Empire) by the Queen in 2017 for services to equality in education.

Dr. Joseph Costa, b. 1964, d. 25 July 2020. Chief of Critical Care, Mercy Medical Center, Baltimore. One of many front-line workers who have died from covid-19.

Hadley Dale Hall, b. 8 July 1933, d. 10 Aug. 2020. Founder of San Francisco Home Health Services. Founder of Coming Home Hospice, the first residential AIDS hospice in the US.

Chris Graham-Bell, b. 30 Oct. 1951, d. 12 Aug. 2020. UK publisher. Chair of Millivres Publishing. Founder of “Gay Times”. Former Chair of the Gay Business Association. Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Ash Christian, b. 16 Jan. 1965, d. 13 Aug. 2020. American actor, and tv producer; founder of Cranium Entertainment; won an Emmy in 2014 for his short daytime drama “ml promise”.

James Humphreys, b. 10 Dec. 1939, d. 27 Aug. 2020. American mathematician. Associate Professor (1974), Professor (1976), and Emeritus Professor (2003), University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He died of covid-19.

Henry van Ameringen, b. 1931, d. 9 Sept. 2020. American businessman and philanthropist who donated millions of dollars to lgbt charities and causes. Founder of the van Ameringen Foundation. He inherited his father’s perfume company, International Flavors and Fragrances.

Barbara “Soraya” Santaigo Solla, b. 6 Dec. 1947, d. 22 Sept. 2020. Puerto Rican transgender activist, and the first person in Puerto Rico to change her gender designation on her birth certificate. In October the TranSalud Clinic on Puerto Rico was renamed in her honour.

Timothy Ray Brown, b. 11 Mar. 1966, d. 29 Sept. 2020. “The Berlin Patient”, the first person to be cured of HIV, by bone marrow transplant.

Kenzō Takada, b. 27 Feb. 1939, d. 4 Oct. 2020. Japanese fashion designer. With compensation from the Japanese government for demolishing his Tokyo home to make way for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics Kenzō travelled to Paris, France, where he formed his fashion house. Chevalier, Legion d’Honneur. He died of covid-19.

Monica Roberts, b. 4 May 1962, d. 5 Oct. 2020. American transgender activist. Journalist and founding editor of TransGriot, a blog on transgender issues, with an emphasis on the African-American and ethnic transgender community.

James Randi, b. 7 Aug. 1928, d. 20 Oct. 2020. Canadian-American magician and psychic/paranormal “debunker”. He founded the James Randi Educational Foundation which offered a million dollars to anyone who can prove scientifically the existence of paranormal abilities. Asteroid 3163 is named after him.

David Scondras, b. 1946, d. 21 Oct. 2020. The first openly lgbt person elected to the city council of Boston, Massachusetts, 1983.

John Sessions, b. 11 Jan. 1953, d. 2 Nov. 2020. Scottish actor and comedian, popular on many comedy improvisation shows. He also impersonated many contemporary public figures for the 1980s satirical puppet show “Spitting Image”.

Joan Drury, b. 1945, d. 9 Nov. 2020. American author, bookseller, publisher and philanthropist. Owner of Spinsters Ink, a feminist lesbian press, 1992-2001. Won the Lambda Literary Publisher Service Award in 1999.

Anthony Sullivan, b. 25 Feb. 1942, d. 10 Nov. 2020. Australian-born campaigner for same-sex marriage in the USA. His marriage to Richard Adams (d.2012) in 1975 was the first to campaign for recognition by the US Federal Court. In 2015 the marriage was recognised by the US government as the first US same-sex marriage.

Dr. Michael Kelly, b. 1954, d. 14 Nov. 2020. Australian queer theologian and author. Co-founder of the Rainbow Sash Movement, an organisation lgbt Catholics who campaign for acceptance in Communion.

Witold Sadowy, b. 7 Jan. 1920, d. 15 Nov. 2020. Polish actor and author who came out at the age of 100, probably the oldest coming out.

Jan Morris, b. 2 Oct. 1926, d. 20 Nov. 2020. Welsh transgender author, historian and travel writer. She was the journalist on the 1952 Everest expedition who reported the successful conquest. Awarded the CBE (Companion of the Order of the British Empire) by the Queen in 1999 for services to literature.

Deb Price, b. 27 Feb. 1958, d. 20 Nov. 2020. Pioneering American lesbian columnist, the first to have her columns syndicated across the US (1992).

Pat Patterson, b. 14 Jan. 1941, d. 2 Dec. 2020. Canadian/American professional wrestler, consultant and producer. Acknowledged as a leading figure in the global success of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). His long career culminated in him being the oldest person to win a WWE wrestling title in 2019 at the age of 78.

Here is the second half of the transgender murder victims of 2020.

Brian “Egypt’ Powers, killed in Akron, Ohio, on 13th June 2020, aged 43.

Brayla Stone, killed in Dallas, Texas, on 25th June 2020, aged 17. 

Merci Mack, killed in Dallas, Texas, on 30th June 30, aged 22. 

Shaki Peters, killed in Amite City, Louisiana, on 1st July 2020, aged 32. 

Bree Black, killed in Pompano Beach, Florida, on 3rd July 2020, aged 27.

Summer Taylor, killed in Seattle, Washington on 4th July 2020. 

Marilyn Cazares, killed in Brawley, California, in July 2020. 

Dior H Ova/Tiffany Harris, was killed in the Bronx, New York, in July 2020. 

Queasha D Hardy, killed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on 27th July 2020, aged 22.

Aja Raquell Rhone-Spears (a.k.a. Rocky Rhone), killed in Portland, Oregon, on 28th July 2020. 

Kee Sam, killed in Lafayette, Louisiana on 12th August 2020. 

Aerrion Burnett, killed in independence, Missouri on 19th September 2020. 

Mia Green, killed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 28th September 2020, aged 29. 

Michelle Michellyn Ramos Vargas, killed in Puerto Rico on 30th September 30, 2020. 

Felycya Harris, killed in Augusta, Georgia, in October 2020, aged 33. 

Brooklyn Deshuna, killed in Shreveport, Louisiana, on 7th October 2020, aged 20. 

Sara Blackwood, killed in Indianapolis, Indiana, on 11th October 2020.

Angel Unique, killed in Memphis, Tennessee, on 25th October 2020, aged 25. 

Yunieski Carey Herrera, killed in Miami, Florida, on 17th November 2020, aged 39. 

Asia Jynaé Foster, killed in Houston, Texas, on 20th November 2020, aged 22.