The Dayton Shooter Didn’t Kill His Sister—He Killed his Trans Brother #SayHisName #JordanCofer

TEEN VOGUE‘S Ashlee Marie Preston, tweeted a correction to her previous report: Yesterday I reported that a trans womxn named Pebbles LaDime Doe was murdered Aug 4th—not realizing that was the same day as the mass shooting in Dayton. Like many of us; I also didn’t realize Connor Betts didn’t shoot his “sister”—but his trans BROTHER.

“The first person he murdered was his trans BROTHER (maybe even a catalyst) and the family allowed media to misgender him and use his birth name…even in death. He was a trans man.”

The Advocate‘s Neal Broverman got it right when he wrote, “The first victim of a mass shooter in Dayton, Ohio, was his sibling, a trans man named Jordan Cofer, according to the National Center for Transgender Equality and a report on the website Splinter.

Splinter writer Katelyn Burns concluded that Cofer was likely not targeted for his gender identity because he was not out to many, including his family. But Cofer, 22, used male pronouns and identified as trans, according to friends of his who spoke to Burns.

Cofer’s friend Elizabeth Blackburn wrote a moving essay over at Medium, “The dead deserve to be recognized for who they were in life. Far too often when a young LGBTQ person dies, they are not afforded the dignity of an accurate public record. The duty to tell their truth falls to their lovers, friends, and confidantes. Thankfully, Jordan was much loved.”

A lot has been written about Jordan recently, but quotes from any 22-year old’s high school classmates represent only the smallest sliver of a life. We should be grateful, then, that Jordan recently updated his social media accounts and began posting under his chosen name. He wanted a fresh start. He deserved so more than just the start.