Detroit Transgender Voices Shared in Newly Released “Treasure” Film

Detroit Transgender Voices Shared in Newly Released “Treasure” Film (video)
(Crystal A. Proxmire, June 21, 2015)
“I just hope it brings her family some peace. I hope the other transgender men and women activists inspire others to stand up and be activists too.”
That is what Director Dream Hampton said about her film “Treasure: From Tragedy to Transjustice, Mapping a Detroit Story.” The Detroit Institute of Arts and Ruth Ellis Center hosted the Detroit screening of the film on Thursday at the DIA. The event gave to honor Treasure, and a chance to come together around the call that #BlackTransLivesMatter.
The film is about Shelley “Treasure” Hilliard, a 19-year-old transgender woman who was murdered on Oct. 23, 2011.
Hampton showed how her story touched the lives of other transgender people in Detroit. Much of the film involved the Ruth Ellis Center, a shelter and drop in space for LGBTQ youth. Like hundreds of other young LGBT youth, Hilliard found support, friendship and basic needs met through programs at Ruth Ellis.
When she was missing, and when parts of her body began being discovered spread through the city, emotions spread through the community. People grieved. But there was also increased fear.
“Shelley was an active youth at Ruth Ellis Center. Her death had an incredible impact on young people there,” said Jerry Peterson, Executive Director of the center. “It’s critical in the days with everyone talking about ‘Call me Caitlyn’, that we see the whole other side of transgender lives, without the benefits and the privilege to be just accepted or seen as beautiful. This is an important story to fill in what’s happening in our country.”
Hampton laid out the last few days of Hilliard’s life. She had been doing sex work out of a room at Motel 6 in Madison Heights, when the smell of weed led police to her door. They came in and found marijuana and threatened Hilliard with arrest.
But, according to reports, if she would help them out by being an informant and setting up the person who sold her the weed, they would not send her to jail. She complied.
She was soon after murdered by the drug dealer, and a civil lawsuit brought against Madison Heights spells out evidence that the police officers told the drug dealer who it was that ratted him out.
That moment, whether born of negligence or malice, led to her being lured to a deserted part of the city, dragged inside a strange house, brutally murdered, and horrifically disposed of.  The killers were imprisoned and Hilliard’s family is suing to hold the police accountable for carelessly endangering her life.

The loss and the sense of vulnerability after her death were part of an atmosphere that inspired a whole new generation of transgender activists and allies.
Thursday’s film showing was also a gathering of people with interest in transgender equality and support in the Detroit area. Treasure’s mother and family members were there, as well as others who helped make the film.  Emani Love, who had been inspired by Treasure’s confidence, led a discussion about transgender terminology, and helped introduce the film.
Learn more about Treasure at http://www.treasuredoc.com/.
Learn more about Ruth Ellis Center at http://www.ruthelliscenter.org/.

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