Jerimarie Liesegang

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our friend and comrade Jerimarie Liesegang. She leaves the LGBTQI+ community to mourn her passing and celebrate her life. She was predeceased by her wife Anja Schaedler. Jerimarie leaves three children, Thomas Liesegang,Timothy Liesegang, and Tasha Schaedler and her ex-spouse, Lynn June Liesegang, her caregiver during her final weeks. Jerimarie was the mother of the Connecticut political transgender movement and founded It's Time, Connecticut and later The Connecticut TransAdvoacy Coalition. Both groups worked for civil rights of the Transgender community in Connecticut. In 2002 Jerimarie and her wife Anja began the Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day to honor the memory of transgender people who have been killed in acts of anti-transgender violence. She also was one of the founders of the conference, Transgender Lives: The Intersection of Health and Law. In 2004 through Jerimarie's work, gender identity and expression was included in the state's hate crime laws, and in 2011-after eleven years of working for change-Governor Malloy signed, An Act Concerning Discrimination into law, protecting the transgender community from discrimination.She was a co-founder of Queers Without Borders, a multi-issue organizing group of LGBTQ people who worked closely with other groups around the issues of peace, affordable housing, disability rights, reproductive rights, environmental issues, immigrant rights, access to free or affordable health care, freeing political prisoners, social justice, and violence. She was proud to help carry the lead banner in the Free Chelsea Manning group in the 2013 New York Pride Parade. Her writings are included in many publications and are widely read. She spoke at many rallies and educational forums and worked closely with Love Makes a Family, Connecticut Women's Education and Legal Fund, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, PFLAG, and the Hartford Gay and Lesbian Health Collective. During the last seven months of her life she worked on and co-produced four videos on Connecticut LGBTQ history from research done in the LGBTQ archives at Central Connecticut State University. She also finished a video on trans revolutionary Sylvia Rivera. Prior to this she worked with her wife Anja and others on While Paris was Burning Hartford Sizzled, a documentary on Hartford's Drag Balls. Our community will always remember Jerimarie as a loving and giving person who not only fought for the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex community, but also fully understood that her struggle and the struggle of the transgender community were intertwined with all other communities who fought for their basic human and civil rights. Our community takes great pride when remembering the accomplishments of Jerimarie. As we say in many communities, Jerimarie Liesegang Presente! You are invited to donate to the Queer/LGBTQ group of your choice in her memory.