Transgender Activist and Artist, Casey Hoke, Has Died Age 21
The LGBT+ community mourns artist and activist Casey Hoke, who has passed away at the age of 21, the Los Angeles Blade reports.
Hoke was a Point Foundation scholar studying graphic design communications at the California State Polytechnic University of Pomona. He was a board member of the Gay and Lesbian Student Education Network, as well as a former student ambassador for GLSEN’s Art, Identity & YOU workshop. He also curated the website QueerArtHistory.com, a resource for LGBT+ art and culture, spoke at TEDx, and contributed to the Huffington Post and MTV News.
“I have known Casey since he was in high school and he was a remarkable force of light, love, art, and power in the world who worked with GLSEN at every level,” says GLSEN executive director Dr. Eliza Byard. “He touched so many lives and he will always inspire me to press on and stop hate.”
“Casey was a beloved member of the Point Family and the love and warmth he brought to every space he was in will be missed,” says Point Foundation executive director Jorge Valencia. “Casey’s family told us how proud he was of his Point community service project and that we in the Point Foundation would ask that folks go see the incredible work that Casey was doing.”
Hoke died Wednesday at his home in LA. The LA County deputy medical examiner has deferred the cause of death until after an official inquest.
Hoke’s brother, Ryan Benjamin Hoke, released a statement: “My family is heartbroken… We ask for privacy, but at the same time want to make sure Casey’s friends and connections know.”
Ryan later told
Blade that “Casey lost his battle with mental illness.”
Image above via Rich Polk/Getty Images for Point Foundation
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