Ruby's Vigil Tonight

Transgender murders are hard enough when they are people you don't know. But when you know them, when you care about them, when you watch them struggle, when you see how much life they have in them, it's devestating.  Ruby Ordenana was a beautiful, vibrant young woman with many hopes and dreams for her life.  She was only 24 years old.  She was found naked on Cesear Chavez and Illinois and her body was unidentified for days. 

She is the third transgender woman of color to be murdered in San Francisco in the past SIX MONTHS.  Something needs to change.

I have the official press release from CUAV.  While the press release says Ruby Rodriguez, she also went by Ruby Ordenana.  Her picture is on the press release and I have more pictures of her if people are not sure that this is a Ruby they know.

Thank you,

Logan

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PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

Contact:

Alexandra Byerly, EL-LA Program Coordinator (415) 864-7278

Tina D’Elia, Hate Violence Survivor Program Director (415) 777-5500 ext. 304

Community Mourns Murder of Latina Transgender Woman

Requests Attendance at Vigil to Demand Change

San Francisco, California (March 22, 2007) – A Nicaraguan transgender woman, Ruby Rodriguez, 24 years old, was murdered on Friday, March 16, 2007. Her body was found on the corner of Cesar Chavez and Indiana Streets in the Mission District of San Francisco. The murder is currently under investigation by the San Francisco Police Department. Community United Against Violence (CUAV), EL-LA, San Francisco LGBT Community Center, TRANS Project, allies, and community members will hold a community vigil in her honor on Friday, March 23, 2007 at 6:00PM, on the corner of 24^th Street and Mission Street in the Mission District.

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Community United Against Violence works to end violence against and within the LGBTQQ communities, providing free and confidential counseling, advocacy, and education in English and Spanish. CUAV’s crisis line is (415) 333-4357

Organizers request that the community bring a white candle to the vigil. There will also be an additional altar set up on Cesar Chavez and Indiana Street, and community members are encouraged to bring flowers, photographs, cards and good wishes to this site. Let us not forget Ruby. She was an exceptional woman who was intent on improving her life. Ruby participated in various support groups and language classes, and idolized Chicana singer Selena.

This murder comes at the heels of at least two other violent deaths of transgender women of color in the San Francisco Bay Area over the past six months. Transgender people, particularly low-income transgender women of color, are disproportionately poor, homeless, criminalized and imprisoned as a result of systemic discrimination in our daily attempts to access safe housing, healthcare, employment, and education.

Unfortunately, Ruby’s murder is not an exception, but an everyday fear for many transgender people who are targeted and brutalized by institutions and society at large. Our communities mourn Ruby’s death and ask for a renewed commitment to real safety for transgender communities. It is vital that the Mayor’s Office, the San Francisco Police Department, and the District Attorney’s Office work to end the cycles of criminalization, poverty, and violence in transgender communities and communities of color.

Please direct any questions about the vigil to Tina D’Elia or Alexandra Byerly. If anyone has any information regarding Ruby’s murder, please contact Inspector Karen Lynch at (415) 553-1388 or Inspector Tom Cleary at (415) 553-9569 of the SFPD Homicide Unit.