HOUSTON – Houston activist and journalist Monica Roberts, 58, died of natural causes outside her southwest Houston home on October 5. The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences said Roberts died from a blood clot and suffered from heart disease as an underlying condition.
Houston police said it initially appeared that Roberts may have been the victim of a hit-and-run. However, an autopsy determined she suffered a medical emergency and was not the victim of a hit-and-run crash.
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Roberts, a Black trans woman, spent her life on the front lines fighting for her community. She was the creator of the award-winning blog, TransGriot, which has been covering the trans community since 2006.
Roberts and her blog gained notoriety for its covering of trans issues, setting the standard for how to posthumously identify and tell the stories of transgender people. The GLAAD Media Award-winning blog not only covered the violence against but also shared the accomplishments within the trans community, according to “Out” magazine.
She earned several awards for her work including the Susan J Hyde Award for Longevity in the Movement at Creating Change in 2019 and outstanding blog at the GLAAD Media Awards in 2018, according to the LGBT-interest magazine, “Advocate.”
Roberts graduated from Jones High School in 1980 and then graduated from the University of Houston in 1984.
See what the Houston and trans community said in honor of the life and legacy of Roberts.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with the correct date of Roberts’ death.