MINNEAPOLIS – Liara Tsai’s friends don’t want to remember her by the way she died, but by the way she lived.
Police found Liara Tsai’s body in the backseat of a crashed car in southern Minnesota last week. Detectives say her ex did it, and have since charged Margot Lewis with the crime.
Tsai, who was 35, had moved to Minneapolis from Iowa six weeks earlier. She was dedicated to her work as a DJ, while also serving as a crisis counselor and volunteer for the Trevor Project and Suicide Hotline.
“I can’t overstate how much her capacity for love is,” said Olivia Anderson, Tsai’s friend and former partner. “She was just always completely herself and she wanted to inspire everyone around her to always be their truest, most authentic selves.”
“She was so connected to her humanity, her divinity and her love,” said Levi Lake, another friend who had plans with Tsai to provide help and support to people in the transgender community. “I’m really sad that she’s not going to be around to experience that.”
Tsai’s music career was flourishing at the time of her death, her friends say. She was booked to perform her biggest performance yet in New York this weekend.
“She was such a magnetic personality,” said Jaycee Cooper, who met Tsai at an event where she was performing. “She was one of those people who made you feel welcome and seen…Above all, she was truly a connector and a supporter.”
Friends say they are working to organize separate memorial events for Tsai in the coming days and weeks.
“Her incredibly unique presence in the world is irreplaceable,” said friend and fellow DJ Dana Kazuko.
Adam Duxter
