Justice for Sam Nordquist and the Violent Intersection of Race and Gender

When hate leads to irreversible consequences for the most marginalized

Photo by Isaac N. on Unsplash

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Content Warning: This article covers the deaths of Sam Nordquist, including details of his murder, abuse, and the violence that Black transgender people continue to face. It also digs into how race really matters in ways that can’t be ignored, from healthcare to policing, the workplace, and everyday life. Some of this may be uncomfortable, especially if you’ve never had to think about it. That’s okay—lean into it.

For those who live this reality, this piece isn’t here to explain your existence to anyone. It’s about naming the patterns, calling out harm, and making space for the truth. If you need to step away, do that. If you feel seen, that’s the point.

Let’s get into it.

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Who is Sam Nordquist?

I was sitting on my bed this past weekend, casually scrolling through my Instagram feed and my attention was called to a post from someone I followed. It was a picture of a young Black transgender man, Sam Nordquist, with the words “Justice for Sam” underneath his portrait.

With a Google search and perusing multiple sources, I quickly gathered that Sam was a 24-year-old Black transgender man from Minnesota. He was described by his mother, Linda, in a CBS interview as kind, hardworking and loved his nieces and nephews. Diving deeper into my research, I was able to piece together the events that led to his untimely death at the hands of five people, including his online girlfriend, Precious Arzuago.

On September 28th, 2024, he traveled to New York to visit Precious, staying at Patty’s Lodge motel located in Canandaigua and planned to return to Minnesota two weeks later. His mother Linda reported that her last contact with Sam was on January 1st, 2025, his last words being “I love you, and I’ll call you tomorrow.” and hasn’t heard or seen him since. On February 9th, she and her family reported him missing to the New York State Police and launched an investigation, which evolved into a multi-location search for Sam.

The search came to an end on February 13th, when remains were found in a field in Yates County and confirmed to be Sam’s. Despite his intersectional background as a Black transgender individual, the Ontario County District Attorney James Ritts reported in a February 16 press release that there is currently no indication of his murder being a hate crime, disclosing even further that some (if not, all) of the assailants also identified as LGBTQ+.

What is considered as a hate crime in New York State?

According to New York State law, proving a hate crime requires evidence that the victim was targeted specifically due to their identity. Simply being Black and transgender alone is not enough for a hate crime classification.¹

Some may argue that Sam’s murder is an issue of transphobia alone. But we cannot ignore that Black transgender people, particularly Black transgender women, face disproportionately high rates of violence, housing discrimination, and systemic oppression.

Why make transgender issues about race?

This story is not unfamiliar to the transgender community, each loss echoing the lives of those that have been lost before.

But Sam Nordquist’s death serves as a stark reminder of the pervasive violence against Black transgender individuals, whose intersectional identities lead to compounding effects of both racism and transphobia that affect their everyday lives.

This is not to say that non-Black transgender individuals don’t face obstacles — but that those obstacles are not attributed to the color of their skin. For many of us whose skin complexion is lighter than that of a paper bag, gender non-conformity is often seen as unique or even celebrated, while Black and Brown individuals face backlash not only by their families but also by the larger societal pressure to assimilate into a white-dominated society.

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Let’s take a closer look at the numbers:

• A slightly higher percentage of Black LGBT adults (82%) reported experiences of everyday discrimination than Black non-LGBT adults (79%).²

• Over two-thirds (70%) of Black cisgender LGBQ young people experienced at least one form of discrimination related to their race, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression in the past year, while even more Black transgender, nonbinary, or questioning young people (83%) experienced the same.³

• In 2024, at least 36 transgender and gender-expansive individuals were murdered in the U.S., with Black transgender women comprising 61% of these victims.⁴

• 55% of Black LGBTQ individuals indicated that discrimination negatively affected their ability to rent or buy a home, compared to 32% of white LGBTQ respondents.⁵

• According to the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, 38% of Black respondents lived in poverty, compared to 24% of Black people in the U.S. population.⁶

From the statistics shown here, it’s clear to see that race plays a major role in systemic challenges and discrimination faced by Black people overall, which has a more debilitating impact on those who are transgender.

In a critical time where transgender people are constantly under attack, we must do more than mourn. We must support Black transgender activists, we must platform them in spaces they cannot access and demand policy reform.

How can I take action?

1. Find your representatives at www.usa.gov/elected-officials. Call or email them demanding stronger anti-discrimination laws that explicitly protect transgender individuals from violence and housing discrimination.

2. Support community organizations that expand access to housing assistance, workforce development, and mental health programs so that Black transgender people can thrive—not just survive.

   Consider supporting Destination Tomorrow, which provides LGBTQ+ community centers in New York, Atlanta, and Washington DC, offering housing assistance, workforce development, and mental health support for Black trans individuals

3. Donate to Black Trans Travel Fund, a non-profit organization that provides financial assistance to Black transgender women so they can access safe and affirming transportation.

4. Educating ourselves is part of the work. I highly recommend reading “Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity” by C. Riley Snorton. This book goes deeper into how Blackness and gender identity have intersected in American history.

Justice for Sam means fighting for ALL Black trans lives. Only then can we help stop this relentless cycle of violence and turn Trans Day of Remembrance into Trans Day of Joy.

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1. New York Penal Law § 485.05, New York State Senate, accessed [February 17th, 2025], https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/485.05.

2. Williams Institute. Black LGBT Adults in the U.S. UCLA School of Law, 2021. Accessed [February 16th, 2025]. https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/black-lgbt-adults-in-the-us/.

3. The Trevor Project. Discrimination Among Black LGBTQ Young People and Suicide Risk. The Trevor Project, 2023. Accessed [February 16th, 2025]. https://www.thetrevorproject.org/research-briefs/discrimination-among-black-lgbtq-young-people-and-suicide-risk/.

4. Teen Vogue. Amid a Violence Epidemic Against Trans Americans, These Groups Are Fighting Back. Condé Nast, 2024. Available at: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/amid-an-violence-epidemic-against-trans-americans-these-groups-are-fighting-back (Accessed: [February 17th, 2025]).

5. Center for American Progress. Black LGBTQ Individuals Experience Heightened Levels of Discrimination. Center for American Progress, 2021. Accessed [February 17th, 2025]. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/black-lgbtq-individuals-experience-heightened-levels-discrimination/.

6. National Center for Transgender Equality. Report on the Experiences of Black Respondents in the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey. Washington, D.C.: National Center for Transgender Equality, 2017. Accessed [February 17th, 2025]. https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/usts/USTS-Black-Respondents-Report.pdf.