Zashy Zuley del Cid, a trans woman and prominent figure in the El Salvador LGBTQ+ community, was shot to death on April 24 while working in the city of San Miguel. Local advocacy group COMCAVIS Trans told the Los Angeles Blade that Cid was killed in an area where sex workers were known to congregate, with executive director Bianca Rodríguez adding: “We suffer attacks for the simple fact of having a different sexual orientation or gender identity.”
She continued: “We do not want violence to continue against LGBTQ+ people, and it is for that reason we have made the corresponding call to the appropriate authorities to be diligent with investigations and [for us] to be recognized as citizens with equal rights and guarantees.” Rodríguez also said that Cid was buried under her dead name, and none of her LGBTQ+ friends were allowed to attend her funeral.
COMCAVIS Trans found more than 600 known LGBTQ+ people have been violently killed in El Salvador since 1993. From 2018 – 2019, 151 LGBTQ+ citizens were forcibly displaced from their homes, 67.5% of whom were trans women.