Porgy was a great character and, at least in the novel, written with warmth and nuance. (The dialect was cringey at times.) I found it interesting that there were few white characters, and with the exception of an attorney, they were all more or less antagonists. I can see why people were offended by the story (and I had no idea that drug use was central to the plot), but considering a lot of stuff produced during that era. Was it too operatic (especially the 1935 production) for theater-going audiences of the 1930s? Was the all-black cast a turn-off? It doesn't appear that the 1935 Broadway production was very successful, nor was the 1942 revival, but if I am wrong please set me straight. (I also plan to watch some staged versions of the opera, and maybe the 1959 film version.) I'm a big fan of jazz and so know several of the songs from Porgy and Bess, but knew very little about the plot, so I decided to read DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy. “We must bring attention to the tragic details of his death and the horrific trend of violence against transgender and gender non-conforming people in this country and around the world.” by Anonymous “At the age of just 24, he should still be alive today to share his unmatched creativity and love for his cat, Milo. “An unspeakable tragedy took place on the day Raymond ‘Ray’ Muscat lost his life at the hands of someone he cared for,” Tori Cooper, the director of community engagement for the HRC’s Transgender Justice Initiative, told PinkNews. Ray was one of them, with several sensational news reports misgendering and deadnaming him in their reports. The true death toll can be difficult to get a grip on, the HRC caution, given that around three-quarters of trans homicide victims are misgendered and deadnamed in local news and police reports.
Last year’s total reached a grisly, record-breaking tally of 57 – a number that, even in the months since the year came to an end, has continued to rise as more cases surface months on. Ray is “at least” the 13th trans, non-binary or gender non-conforming person violently killed this year, according to the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBT+ rights group that has tracked the wave of killings since 2013. His family have organised a GoFundMe to raise money to help “alleviate their stress” and “find justice in this sudden loss”. Working at Meijer, a supermarket chain, customers and colleagues described Ray as a “kind soul who had a glowing smile that was contagious to their day”. Some knew him as Ray, others by the handle “Ray graveyard” and to his family, “Boom”, according to his obituary. A month before, police reported conducting a welfare check on the couple.
Ruby had allegedly purchased just a week before the shooting two 9mm handguns and a Glock 43X handgun, the police added, despite this being against the apartment complex’s rules. When police arrived, they found the bodies of Ray and Bishop. Police said that a 911 call came in the the early morning from a neighbour in the apartment complex who reported hearing the sounds of gunshots. “An Independence Township woman who fatally shot her live-in boyfriend and her brother Sunday was found dead today of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound near the apartment complex where the fatal shootings occurred,” the sheriff’s office said in a press release. “This tragic situation has now been brought to a close, and our investigators will now pivot to see if we can answer the question on everyone’s mind - why,” Bouchard added. One day later, Ruby’s body was found in a wooded area by their apartment complex in what police suspect was suicide. Ruby’s brother, Bishop Tavener, 25, was also killed in the couple’s apartment, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said Sunday, Law & Crime reported. Ruby Tavener, a 22-year-old white trans woman, also fatally shot her own brother before fleeing the Independence Square Apartments in the Independence Township on Sunday (8 May). Raymond “Ray” Muscat, a 24-year-old who loved anime and cosplay, was reportedly shot to death by his girlfriend of almost two years in their apartment.
A “kind” trans man was shot dead by his girlfriend in Oakland, Michigan, as a campaign of violence continues to claim the lives of trans Americans.