Published by HRC.org
Banko Brown, a 24-year-old Black transgender man, is remembered as being “bold” and “funny.” Banko, who also used the surnames Brown and Paso, was a young community activist who helped assess the needs of young folks, including young trans folks, during the pandemic.
Brown was shot by a security guard outside of a San Francisco Walgreens on April 27, 2023, marking the at least 11th violent killing of a transgender or gender non-conforming person in 2023. We say “at least” because too often these deaths go unreported — or misreported.
According to a GoFundMe page created by Julia Arroyo, the co-executive director of the Young Women’s Freedom Center where Brown was working as a community organizing intern, Banko “was brilliant and made everyone laugh.” Arroyo wrote that although Banko was shy, he “made friends easily and connected deeply with others.” Banko had been part of the nonprofit organization since he was 12 years old.