Funny, fierce, kind. Those are just some of the words used to describe SaVanna Wanzer, a transgender rights advocate who is credited with founding events that celebrated D.C.’s transgender community, particularly the Black transgender community.
Wanzer, who friends said had been in ill health recently, died Friday at the age of 63.
Naseema Shafi, CEO of an organization that has been active in legal and medical care in the LGBTQ+ community for decades, told ²ÝÝ®´«Ã½ that Wanzer was a passionate and kind advocate.
“It’s such a big wound in our hearts that she’s gone,” Shafi said.
Shafi said that while Wanzer was instrumental in advocating for the rights of the transgender community, her work pushed governments, agencies and nonprofits to ensure they provided the kind of care that’s based on meeting human needs.
Wanzer’s message, Shafi said, was that everyone needs “to be treated with dignity, respect and kindness and love. You have to affirm people’s experiences — they are real — and SaVanna made us think about that all the time.”
Shafi said Wanzer’s warmth and humor made people want to work with her.
“She just overcame every barrier in front of her,” Shafi said. “She had just a really gentle way of pulling us forward. And I think she did that in lots of different settings.”
Earline Budd has been working in the field of transgender rights in D.C. for decades and said it hurts to know she will never again hear Wanzer’s voice.
Wanzer led the effort to make sure D.C.’s transgender community was recognized with the formation of Capital Trans Pride and D.C. Black Trans Pride.
“She went out of her way to make sure that provisions and different things are made available for trans people,” Budd said, highlighting the addition of certain Capital Pride events. “She was very instrumental in making sure that we had a place at the table and that we were included.”
Even as Wanzer’s health worsened, Budd said, she was looking ahead and was still thinking of others.
“I mean, she literally would jump out of a hospital bed and come to an event,” Budd said, noting Wanzer will be remembered for her eagerness to support others.
Amy Nelson, senior director of legal services at Whitman-Walker Health, recalled that in 2012, the organization launched its name and gender change legal clinic.
“SaVanna was one of the first volunteers and was there every month to welcome clients, to welcome volunteers and make sure that things went smoothly,” she said.
While people may not be familiar with Wanzer’s name, because she was so often working behind the scenes, Nelson said, “because of her work, the name-change process is more streamlined, it’s easier to access.”
“There’s more open conversation about the medical and legal needs of trans people, and there’s more space for bridge-building,” Nelson added.
Nelson said Wanzer worked very closely with elected officials, including D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and members of the D.C. Council.
On Monday, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser about Wanzer’s passing, calling her “a fierce advocate and a beloved leader.”
“Her legacy lives on in the communities she built and the countless lives she touched,” Bowser said.
Nelson said Wanzer was active in all facets of outreach work: “SaVanna used to do a turkey drive so that patients and clients would have something to eat on Thanksgiving.”
Like all the people ²ÝÝ®´«Ã½ talked to about Wanzer’s life, Nelson mentioned her humor and warmth.
“I was with SaVanna many days in the end, in the hospital and then the nursing home, and she never lost her sense of humor and she had us laughing when we were on the verge of tears,” she said.
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