Feb 9
Syracuse Trans Veteran, Wrapped in Body-Length Trans Flag, Dies by Apparent Suicide
READ TIME: 2 MIN.
A patient at Syracuse VA Medical Center died by an apparent suicide outside the top of the hospital's parking garage Monday. "Witnesses said the person was wrapped in a body-length transgender pride flag," reports Syracuse.com.
"The transgender veteran hanged themselves by jumping from the garage, according to a notification the VA gave government officials. The veteran had been discharged from the VA's inpatient psychiatry unit on Jan. 21, according to the notification."
The body was spotted by passers-by in the morning hours of February 3rd. Professor of food studies Anne C. Bellows said she was walking back to her office on the top floor of the Falk College building when she and other SU faculty saw the body.
She said the person was wrapped in a body-length flag that was light pink, light blue and white – which she confirmed to be the trans flag.
Other members of the SU community reported seeing the body Monday, according to a university community alert.
"The Syracuse VA officials declined to answer questions from Syracuse.com/The Post-Standard about the death. A VA spokesperson issued a statement that only confirmed a veteran had died at the VA Monday. It said officials will not provide more details, citing respect to the veteran's family and an ongoing investigation," adds syracuse.com.
The veteran's identity was not known.
The suicide occurred against an increasingly hostile reality for trans Americans. "On January 20, Inauguration Day, President Donald Trump signed an executive order stating that the U.S. would only recognize 'two sexes, male and female, and instructed government agencies to only issue new documents, like passports and visas, that reflect a person's sex assigned at birth. It also ended all federal funding of 'gender ideology,' the right-wing characterization of the concept that a person's gender identity is separate from their biological sex," reports LGBTQNation.
Trump also doubled-down on his promise to ban transgender people from serving in the U.S. military, as he did during his first term, which was rescinded by President Biden. On January 28, Trump signed an executive order to restore the ban that is expected to affect an estimated 8,000 to 15,000 trans service members at a time when the military is experiencing a recruitment shortage.
"The following day, the president signed an executive order banning federal funding of gender-affirming care for people under the age of 19," LGBTQNation adds.. "The order instructs the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to restrict Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare – the federal health insurance program for active duty service members and their families – and other federal employee health insurance plans from covering such care, which has long been accepted by all major American medical associations as evidence-based, safe, and effective for the treatment of gender dysphoria.
