Monica Roberts, TransGriot Creator and Pioneer in Trans News, Has Died

[BeckyDem]

According to social media chatter, journalist and TransGriot creator Monica Roberts has passed. Imara Jones, an activist and producer, was the first to tweet the news.

"I'm shocked at the sudden loss of [Monica Roberts,]" she wrote. "For trans journalists, she was a pioneer and an essential North Star. I know so many of us will be deeply saddened by her passing."



Roberts is the founder of the GLAAD Media Award-winning blog which has been covering trans issues since 2006. Prior to mainstream outlets beginning to cover violence against, and the accomplishments of the trans community, Roberts was doing so. That work lived not only on her blog but in her writing for publications like Ebony, The Advocate, The Dallas Voice, and OutSmart Magazine. She told Out in 2019 that she "took up the mantle" simply because “nobody else was doing it."


https://www.out.com/transgender/2020/10/08/monica-roberts-transgriot-creator-and-pioneer-trans-news-has-died

[Skittles]

1. sounds like she was a great gal

[BeckyDem]

2. Yep. Monica was amazing.

Tributes Pour Out After Death of Pioneering Journalist Monica Roberts, Who Gave a Voice to Trans and Black Lives

OCTOBER 9, 2020 BY ANDY TOWLE

Tributes poured out on social media Thursday night after it was reported that Monica Roberts, a pioneering trans journalist who authored the blog TransGriot since 2006, had died at the age of 58. Roberts focused on the discrimination and violence experienced by the trans community and the black trans community before anyone else did. We are deeply saddened here at Towleroad to hear of her passing.


excerpt
The Daily Beast profiled Roberts and her work in 2019: “Whenever she discovers through Facebook that there’s been a death in the community, she begins investigating, combing through local news reports of recent killings in the area. Often, within half an hour, Roberts can match the name of a slain transgender person to a murder victim who has been identified only by their legal name in local coverage. Then she publishes her findings on her long-running blog TransGriot.”

https://www.towleroad.com/2020/10/monica-roberts/