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Aimee Stephens: Trans Rights and Death Worker Icon
Aimee Stephens spent years battling two debilitating illnesses that prevented her from working at all. To add insult to injury. she was fired from her job as a funeral director and embalmer for telling her employer that she was transgender and that she would show up to work in the appropriate women’s attire. She tried to sue on the grounds of discrimination, but could not do so due to the Supreme Court’s 2014 Hobby Lobby ruling. However, due to an evolving understanding of LGBTQ issues, the Supreme Court voted 6–3 that anti-discrimination laws covered LGBTQ workers.
Stephens died peacefully with her family at her side on May 12, 2020. Her brother-in-law, John Pedit started a GoFundMe to cover the costs of her funeral. This GoFundMe has collected almost twice the requested amount. Her wife, Donna, believes that the Supreme Court’s ruling finished what Aimee had begun. However, she still grieves because Aimee would never be able to experience the changes that the Supreme Court’s ruling would bring about.
As a transgender death worker, Aimee Stephens became the trailblazer she never set out to be. She just wanted to prepare the dead for viewing to give families a sense of closure. Following in her footsteps, Toni King-Rose founded an organization called Trans Death Rights. The resources that this organization has compiled will allow more transgender people to be remembered as the person they were. Especially when transgender individuals fear violent hate crimes, making sure their identity is retained in death is a crucial way to maintain or even claim humanity.
