Sumaya Dalmar

Last updated
Sumaya Dalmar
Born1988or1989
Somalia
Died (aged 26)
Other namesSumaya YSL
Occupation(s)Activist, model

Sumaya Dalmar, also known as Sumaya YSL, [1] was a Somali-Canadian transgender activist [2] and model. Sumaya was one of the earliest Somalis to come out as transgender and LGBT as a whole.

Contents

Biography

Dalmar was born in Somalia and left during the outbreak of the Somali Civil War at the age of three. [3] Dalmar's biological parents disowned her when she came out as trans to them in 2011. [4] The Toronto-based [5] Muslim [6] died in mysterious circumstances on 22 February 2015 at the age of 26. It was an event that was compared to other acts of violence against trans women of colour, [7] especially during the early months of 2015 when such incidents were reportedly occurring at a particularly high rate, [8] but police have since discounted the occurrence of a homicide. [1]

Later life

In 2013, she was the primary actor for a play and documentary that attempted to intersect the relationship between the Somali ethnicity, religiosity, and its correlation to masculinity during a project called "An Intimate Portrait of Somalian Trans-Woman" by Abdi Osman. [2] [3] By 2014, she was the subject of an art exhibition and had become qualified as a speech therapist. [9] Dalmar, who had the middle name Dasia, [1] also featured in other ventures, such as scheduling to begin employment at an LGBT community center called The 519. [10] One commentator praised the degree of visibility she has given the trans community. [11] In 2018 friends and community members established in recognition of her life's work the Sumaya Dalmar Award for trans students of colour. [12]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Toronto Police: Trans Woman of Color's Death Was Not Homicide". The Advocate. 25 February 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  2. 1 2 College of Arts and Science Ellen Trish Salah, September 7, 2015
  3. 1 2 "Police investigating the death of young Somali trans woman in Canada". PinkNews. 2015-02-25. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  4. "Sumaya Ysl's Friends Speak Out About Her Death". Planet Transgender. 2015-02-26. Archived from the original on 2015-09-26. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  5. "Remembering Sumaya Dalmar". CBC. 20 October 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  6. Adam Withnall (25 February 2015). "Sumaya Ysl death: Toronto police investigate death of young Somali trans woman in Canada". The Independent. Archived from the original on February 26, 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  7. "Happy Women's Equality Day! The good, the bad and the work-in-progress". FASHION Magazine. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  8. "A Transgender person is being murdered every 29 hours. Can you stop killing us for just one week?". Planet Transgender. 2015-02-23. Archived from the original on 2015-09-26. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  9. "Another Heartbreak: Somali-Canadian Trans Woman Sumaya Dalmar Found Dead in Toronto This Weekend". Autostraddle. 2015-02-24. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  10. "Sumaya Dalmar had 'so much more life to live'". dailyxtra.com. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  11. Unanswered Questions Following Death of Toronto Trans Woman of Colour Muna Mire, retrieved 8 September
  12. New award to help racialized trans students Archived 2018-03-20 at the Wayback Machine , ryerson.ca, retrieved 19 March 2018.