Trans Woman Lisa Love, 35, Shot and Killed in Chicago

Lisa Love, 35, a trans woman of color, was gunned down as she walked home by a someone in car that "just drove up, made a U-turn," and moments later opened fire.

Chicago Defender reported that members of Love's family said they thought the Oct. 17 murder was a targeted slaying. "According to the family, people in the neighborhood knew was transgender," the report detailed.

A cousin of Love's told the media that "A car just drove up, made a U-turn and [saw] my cousin."

The relative added: "Approximately 30 seconds later, the car stopped and my cousin was shot."

Love was struck by bullets in the back and chest as she was headed home from a visit with a friend. The Human Rights Campaign, which tracks lethal violence targeting transgender and gender non-conforming individuals, noted that her murder marked the "at least the 24th violent killing of a transgender or gender non-conforming person in 2023.

"We say 'at least' because too often these deaths go unreported – or misreported," the HRC noted.

Love's cousin recalled that the victim had been "An all-around good person who did not deserve this. A loving, caring, free-spirited person. Always smiling and laughing."

The HRC's Tori Cooper, Human Rights Campaign Director of Community Engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative, stated that Love "clearly brought joy to many others and deserved to continue being a bright spot in the lives of her friends and family.

"We must end the epidemic of fatal violence viciously targeting transgender and non-binary people," Cooper went on to add.

"Lisa is the fourth transgender or gender non-conforming killed in October, and the second to be killed in Chicago that month, with her death occurring just four days after Dominic Dupree (also known as Dominic Palace) was killed two miles away," the HRC detailed.

"All four victims were Black, and three of the four were killed with a gun. HRC's own tracking found that, since 2013, at least 231 transgender and gender non-conforming victims of fatal violence have been killed with a firearm, approximately 70% of all deaths identified to date."

The ongoing epidemic of deadly violence targeting transgender and gender-nonconforming people – many of them, like Love, trans women of color – takes place against a backdrop of escalating anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in GOP-led state houses around the country.

"In June 2023, the Human Rights Campaign declared a National State of Emergency for LGBTQ+ Americans, as a result of the more than 550 anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced into state houses that year, over 80 of which were signed into law – more than in any other year," the HRC noted.

At the same time, anti-LGBTQ+ influencers have flooded social media with smears, lies, and hate speech targeting sexual and gender minorities and calling for boycotts against corporations that market to the LGBTQ+ demographic and partner with LGBTQ+ social media celebrities.