Gianna Lombardi
Age 4818 Jan 2021
Andria, Barletta-Andria-Trani (Italy)
Not reported
Gianna lived in poverty, in a home without heating or light. After she died her birth family tried to quietly erase her identity, but news of her death went viral in Italy.
A case of transphobia in the city of Andria where Gianna died, a transgender person who is remembered by her family on funeral posters with a man's name, which we will not repeat. The first to denounce the gesture was Vladimir Luxuria through a tweet, telling what happened with the commitment and disdain for the new case of transphobia that took place in Puglia.
Luxuria wrote: "A transgender person, Gianna, indigent and discarded by society, dies in Andria. The family decides to put up funeral posters with his male name (which I prefer not to repeat). An offense to the name and identity with which everyone knew her".
Riccardo Pirrone, SMM of Taffo Funeral Services replied to Vladimir. Taffo is a funeral agency known for its ability to comment on reality with irony, and he offered to redo the posters and spread them virally on the net, in response to the transphobic actions [of Gianna's birth family].
Gianna was desperately poor and had never been accepted by her family. Vladamir had met her some time before during a discussion about civil rights and transphobia in the city.
Among the voices that of Gianna rose, remembered by Luxuria to the Messenger with sincere condolences: “As she spoke it was clear to everyone that she no longer wanted to be insulted. She asked for a hearing, a council house. I was struck by the dignity of her person, that which does not depend on social class or gender identity - it is something much deeper, like those eyes of her mixed with rimmel and tears.
After the debate I wanted to get to know her better, I realized she was a person who had been through all sorts of things. Feeling rejected by everyone, she had found refuge in alcohol and today, unfortunately, I received the news of her death and also of these absurd funeral posters. I wanted to testify to my closeness to a person "discriminated against by the square". Because of her [gender identity] but also because one cannot live in a house without heating or electricity, concluded Vladimir.
Funeral home staff themselves are fed up with birth families treating deceased trans people in this way:
Among the thousands of comments on Taffo's post who shared the correct version of the manifesto on his page, the comment of a fellow citizen stands out who confirms: "I'm from Andria, I knew and saw her every day. Working in a funeral home before, I talked to my former colleagues and they too had problems making condolence posters because the family wanted everything in a male name. Unfortunately her family has never accepted her ... and it is precisely for this reason that she suffered".
"Using her male name is an offense to the identity with which everyone knew her": this is how @taffofuneralservices decided to offer her enormous media exposure for the final, and most respectful, greeting to GIANNA, the transgender person of Andria passed away in recent days apparently due to an accidental fall on which investigations are still underway by the Carabinieri.
Gianna, a transgender person, died in Andria, destitute because they were discarded by society. The family decided to put up funeral posters with her male name - which was an insult to the name and identity by which everyone knew her.
We decided to remake the funeral poster to give her a respectful last farewell.
The ceremony will take place today Wednesday January 20th at 16:00 pm at Parrocchia San Riccardo in Andria.
We offer our thanks to Vladimir Luxuria for reporting [about her].
https://www.andrialive.it/news/cronaca/1005170/muore-gianna-il-cordoglio-della-sindaca
https://www.antennasud.com/andria-muore-trans-gianna-parla-luxuria/
https://www.facebook.com/onoranzefunebritaffo/posts/3390777377694616
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZ1xxGEwgCs
