TW: Gender based violence, murder

From Out Magazine:

The ballroom community is mourning the death of a legend this week after news broke that activist Jahaira DeAlto died after being stabbed on Sunday.

"The House of Balenciaga regretfully acknowledges the death/murder of our own Jahaira M. DeAlto, a community advocate and friend to many," Harold Balenciaga wrote to Facebook Sunday night. "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." The killing makes DeAlto the 21st reported trans killing this year, putting 2021 on track to be the deadliest on record for trans Americans. She is the seventh trans woman of color to be killed in a month.

Within ballroom, DeAlto was a member of the House of Balenciaga. She made her name in Boston, and became a legend for the category of realness... DeAlto's specialty was everyday realness. She started walking in 1996, first walking runway and then in 1999 she began walking realness. After her first winning ball walking realness, she stuck with the category. She also built her own devoted personal family, helping to nurture other members of the community.

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Excerpts from Jahaira’s thread last Mother’s Day:

I am the mother who raised the children whose rainbow sparkled too brightly and blinded their birth moms. I cherished what they discarded. I took on earthly assignments for the moms who'd earned their Heavenly reward. For their babies who still needed raising. I did that. #thread

And I'm still doing that. And I'll keep doing that. Because I will never know what seeing my DNA reflected in another's eyes could look like, but I know what gratitude in the eyes of a young person who finally feels seen looks like. And for me, that's enough.

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💔

Out Magazine Article: https://www.out.com/news/2021/5/03/ballroom-legend-jahaira-dealto-balenciaga-reportedly-killed-43