The death of a transgender woman at Orchard Beach in July has been ruled an accidental drowning after an autopsy report was released last month.
Police officials reported that at 6:09 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 31, officers from the 45th precinct in the Bronx discovered “an unconscious and unresponsive 23-year-old female in the sand” at the water’s edge at Orchard Beach. EMS pronounced the victim dead at the scene. The victim was later identified as a transgender woman who used the pronouns they/them/theirs.
On Friday, Sept. 4, DCPI spokeswoman, Sergeant Jessica McRorie confirmed that the victim, known as Elie Che, 23, of West 139 Street in Manhattan, had drowned. McRorie said, “The medical examiner determined the cause of death to be accidental drowning with no signs or indications of trauma or struggle.”
Che had set up a GoFundMe page on July 26, 2020, writing, “I am a black trans femme who needs money for survival and transition costs.”
Photo by David Greene
Che’s post continued, “As some of you may know, transitioning is a long, very expensive journey. I think people are finally understanding this, and the issues among Black, trans women who have an average lifespan of 35 years. I want to make it past that.”
The publication, Patch, reported that Che, originally from Atlanta, GA and who had recently lived in London, UK for a few years, had told a friend of their plans to go to Orchard Beach. The friend later called police when they failed to return, sparking a search of the beach by officers.
In a summer season like no other, Che is believed to be the first drowning victim at Orchard Beach in 2020. Their death comes on the heels of a recent incident, reported by Norwood News where lifeguards were praised for pulling a man out of knee-deep water who had collapsed face down, on July 29.
Though it was apparently not the case here, transgender women of color are frequently the target of hate crimes, and they also have difficulties finding housing and employment as a result of discrimination. A 2018 FBI report found that of the hate crimes reported that year on the basis of sexual orientation bias, 24.9 percent were victims of anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (mixed group) bias.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Campaign wrote that at least 26 known transgender, gender non-conforming, or non-binary individuals have suffered violent deaths so far in 2020 across the U.S., while there were 27 such deaths in all of last year.
The goal of the Human Rights Campaign is to ensure that all LGBTQ people, and particularly those who are trans, people of color and HIV+, are treated as full and equal citizens across the country and around the world,
On July 23 and again on Sept. 1, the organization called on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development not to remove existing protections for transgender people from federal housing programs.
Today, @HRC is joining national organizations to send a message to the Trump-Pence administration that #HousingSavesLives. In the midst of a global pandemic, @HUDgov must not remove protections for transgender people from federal housing programs. https://t.co/CxZMdadBoc
— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) September 1, 2020
The proposed revisions by the Trump/Pence administration to the Obama administration’s landmark enforcement of the Equal Access Rule would strip away the existing protections and guidance that both housing providers and impacted individuals have relied on for years. The Equal Access Rule explicitly prohibits discrimination in HUD-funded housing and programs on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
In addition to explicitly prohibiting discrimination in HUD programs, the final rule stipulated by the Obama administration provided inclusive definitions for families, and established a framework to protect LGBTQ individuals and families across stages of life and ability. The rule also made clear that individuals seeking emergency housing could not be turned away because of their gender identity, and have a right to be housed safely and in accordance with their gender identity.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, a 2020 study by The Williams Institute reported that 40 percent of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ, nearly nine times the estimate of LGBTQ-identifying adults in the United States. Nearly a third of transgender and non-binary people experience homelessness during their lifetime, half of whom are Black, Middle Eastern, Multiracial, and/or undocumented immigrants.
Another study by the Center for American Progress and the Equal Rights Center determined that only 30 percent of shelters across four states would house trans women with other women, and a fifth of those shelters would turn them away entirely.
Among those who stayed in a shelter, according to the same study, 25 percent reported being physically assaulted in a shelter, and nearly as many (22 percent) reported being sexually assaulted by either another resident or a shelter staff member. Nearly half of the respondents left an emergency shelter because of the treatment they experienced there—choosing to return to the street rather than remain in the shelter.
Che had written on their GoFundMe page how they had moved to New York because it seemed like “an appropriate place” for them “to live and thrive in” while going through their hormonal changes and that the money raised would go towards rent and general survival. “I’m basically going there with no money because being home isn’t good for my mental health,” they said. “I’ve been experiencing some major mood swings which isn’t good to be around my family for, because it’s a sensitive time for me and for them right now as they are adjusting to my life decisions, so I’m basically doing all of this on my own with your help which I desperately need.”
Destination Tomorrow is the only LGBT center in the Bronx with the unique experience of working hand in hand with members of the Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming community (TGNC) community. The center provides housing, social support, and employment related services. The center’s goal is to act as a resource not only to TGNC community members, but also to those in the borough who are looking to work with or understand this community.
Anyone wishing to obtain more information about the agency can do so by accessing their website at www.destinationtomorrow.org.
*Síle Moloney provided additional reporting to this story.
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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.
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