Transgender Day of Remembrance honors Rita Hester of Boston

The tenant called 911 and police arrived to find Rita’s body with multiple stab wounds. Her killer was never found.

Boston’s transgender community has long been aware of the dangers of being different. But the killing of Rita Hester, a black trans woman who sometimes performed at Jacque’s Cabaret in Bay Village, shocked the community amid a wave of tragedy that hit just as trans Americans were finally gaining some recognition.

“There was a lot of optimism,” said Nancy Nangeroni, a longtime trans activist Winner of the 2020 HistoryMaker Award from The History Project, Boston’s LGBTQ+ archive. “There was . . the feeling that everything is really changing.”

Rita’s murder was a shock that galvanized the community. Her memory was quickly commemorated with marches and rallies, and the following November Boston and San Francisco held the first Transgender Day of Remembrance in memory of Rita and other victims of transgender murder. The celebration continues annually around the world on November 20.

“She died in her own apartment, and I think that was scary for people,” said Cara Hayes, supervisor of the witness assistance program at the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office, who is non-binary and has been helping Hester’s family since Rita’s murder. . “I think it was about a time when anti-trans sentiment and a lot of misunderstanding of trans-identified people was very normal, and that’s something we seem to be returning to.”

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the annual celebration amid new attacks on the community by far-right groups and Republicans, including President-elect Donald Trumpevent organizers in Boston expanded from one day to three and added a new program. They want to focus not only on the loss, but also on the joy of transsexuals, adding events such as “house ball,” a celebration of fashion and glamor that grew out of black and Latino trans culture in New York.

“We wanted to give it a new twist,” said Chastity Bowick, lead event organizer. “Rita holds a special place in my heart, from one black trans woman to another who never got to live her dreams.”

The beginning of the activities on Friday Pride Hyde Park’s LGBTQ+ Home for the Elderly with a documentary screening at 6pm, followed by a trans ball and afterparty at Legacy Nightclub. On Saturday, the community will honor the 319 transgender and gender non-conforming people who have died by murder or suicide around the world since last Remembrance Day at a 5pm ceremony at St Paul’s Cathedral, which was honored by Rita’s family and the legendary trans activist. Miss Major Griffin-Gracie plans to attend. There will be a brunch at The Pryde on Sunday at 11am, where the commissioner will be named after Rita during a ceremony in the afternoon.

Rita’s apartment showed no signs of forced entry and she likely knew her killer, according to Boston police, who posted a new tip request in the case last year on the 25th anniversary of Rita’s death.

Boston Police Detective Matthew Fogarty, who is leading the investigation, said he begins any investigation into an old case by re-examining forensic evidence in the hope that new technology can yield fresh information.

“It’s a long, arduous process that involves a lot of people, so it takes a lot of time,” Fogarty said, adding later, “in many cases, we’ve had breakthroughs in many cases much older than this one and covered them and brought them to courtroom”.

Detective Sergeant John Boyle, a spokesman for the department, urged anyone with information to contact police.

“It might be on someone’s conscience now, who might be getting old or sick, and then they might want to come forward,” he said.

Rita’s death follows the murders of trans women in Massachusetts, such as Debbie Fortestabbed in her Haverhill home in May 1995; Chanel Pickett, strangled in an apartment in Watertown in November 1995; and Monique Thomaswho strangled herself in her Dorchester apartment two months before Rita’s murder.

Michael Thompson of Haverhill pleaded guilty to murdering Forte, was sentenced to life in prison and remains at MCI-Norfolk. Pickett’s alleged killer, William S. Palmer, was convicted of assault and battery and sentenced to two years in prison. George Stallings pleaded guilty to murdering Thomas and was sentenced to life imprisonment but parole last December

Thompson and Palmer offered a “trans-panic” defence, saying they attacked their victims after realizing they had concealed their physical gender. Stallings said he killed Thomas for money.

At the time, transgender people were not widely understood outside of the LGBTQ+ community, and the Boston Globe and Boston Herald “killed” Rita by calling her by her male birth name, which many transgender people felt was disrespectful. and used male pronouns for her. Subsequently, both newspapers published angry letters to the editor from offended readers.

Recognition was never an issue in the Hester family, according to Rita’s sister Diana, who said no one cared when Rita started wearing dresses as a teenager. “Rita was accepted by the family,” Diana said. “It wasn’t a problem or an issue.”

Their mother, Kathleen, had planned to visit Rita that Thanksgiving, but never made the trip, a decision she regretted until her death in 2020, according to her youngest daughter, Eartha.

Ertha said she was awakened by a phone call around 1 or 2 a.m. on the Sunday after Thanksgiving 1998. When the caller identified himself as a Boston homicide detective, she broke down in tears. Later, he and Diana sat down to tell their mother.

“It was the worst moment,” said Ertha. “Everyone says that parents do not have favorite children. . . but they do, and Rita just belonged to my mom.”

Diana’s son, Taufiqul Chowdhury, is now Rita’s age when she died. He was 8 years old at the time and was nicknamed “Ragamuffin” by Rita, who brought him gifts and pastries from Boston bakeries when she visited.

“I remember my grandmother screaming and crying and she couldn’t eat for weeks,” Choudhury said.

“My mother is very, very ill,” Ertha added. “We had to start telling my mother that she had other children to live for. It was bad.”

Rita’s family still receives periodic updates from Boston police, but they are frustrated by the lack of progress in the 26-year-old investigation. They find some comfort in knowing that Rita’s death helped shine a light on trans people, leading not only to the annual Day of Remembrance, but also a city-sponsored mural of the glamorous Rita outside her former home in Allston and other tributes.

“It means a lot to our family,” Choudhury said. “Even when we’re gone, I’d like to think her name will live on.”

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Jeremy K. Fox can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @jeremyfox.