NASHVILLE, Tenn (WTVF) — People across the country and right here in Nashville are remembering the lives of transgender people taken by violence as part of Transgender Day of Remembrance. Those include the family and friends of Gilbert "Gizzy" Fowler.
Police say Fowler, a transgender woman, was murdered on November 12th, 2014. Evidence recovered at the Lunn Drive scene led to the identification of Mallory Antoine Porter as the killer. Porter later pleaded guilty to second degree murder.
Fowler's family is using today to remember how Gizzy lived.
Last month, Metro Council voted to recognize November 20th as Transgender Day of Remembrance in Nashville, joining 180 other cities. The day is to honor the memory of transgender people whose lives have been cut short to anti-transgender violence.
The Human Rights Campaign tracked at least 26 deaths last year of transgender or gender non-conforming people in the United States due to violence, the majority being black transgender women.
Fowler's family says they still don't know the motive behind the murder, but they have their assumptions that Fowler's lifestyle could have played a role. At just 24-years-old, police said Fowler was dressed as a woman when they discovered the body.
"A lot of people know him because of who he was, and his demeanor was just amazing," said Drason Fowler, brother.
Those who love Fowler say they just miss their "Gizzy."
"It’s hard losing a sibling, especially somebody you can talk to, almost on a daily basis, somebody you expect not to be gone so soon," said Atealyah Tucker, Fowler's sister.
Fowler's mother tells us she forgives the man that took her child's life, but she will never forget what he did to her and her family.
