Paris Cameron Was a Flower of Detroit
Surrounded by a supportive community, she always gave back
This story is part of Know Their Names, a collection of articles illuminating and celebrating the lives of Black Trans women.
Paris Cameron was a force — vibrant and full of energy. According to her loved ones, she was very sensitive, compassionate, protective, and loving. She loved to dance, cook, and study cosmetology. Paris also loved a good time. She would go to the club, frequenting the Woodward Bar & Grill, a bar in Detroit’s New Center district and a hub of Black gay and Trans culture.
Voguing was Paris’ jam. She vogued what is known in ballroom culture as Dramatics, which is a style of vogue that is very high energy and entails harder movement. Although she was not active in the ballroom community, there are clips of her appearances and battles on social media. “She was flying across the room ever since I taught her how to corkscrew,” according to Jordan Banks, Paris’ ex-lover and best friend.
Born on July 17, 1998, Paris grew up on the East Side of Detroit with her biological family. She attended East English Village Preparatory Academy and took dance classes there. She later graduated from Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School in Detroit.
She was also a member of the Ruth Ellis Center, which is a community youth space dedicated to supporting at-risk, runaway, and homeless LGBTQ+ youth in southeastern Michigan. Paris and her close friends visited the center often to dance and enjoy each other’s company.
Paris was shot and killed on May 25. She was 20 years old. In the same incident, four other people were shot, including her comrades Alunte Davis and Timothy Blancher. Police arrested and charged then-18-year-old Devon Robinson with three counts of first-degree murder and two counts of assault with intent to murder. According to news reports and the prosecutor, Paris and her friends were targeted and murdered because “they were part of the LGBTQ community.” The killings sit at the intersection of cissexism, heterosexism, transphobia, and transmisogynoir. Paris’ family is still fighting for justice.
Paris lived with her ex-lover, Jordan Banks, and his mom, Patricia Sullivan, for a couple years. In an interview, they shared that she loved reality TV, like Bad Girls Club, RuPaul’s Drag Race, Black Ink Crew New York, and Little Women: Atlanta. She liked video games, especially Brawlhalla. They also shared that she was into cosmetology. “She was always changing her hair. She was very discontent without a new look,” Jordan says.
Jordan notes that “Paris was very sensitive, solitary, and [big-hearted]. She was unapologetic about anything and anyone she loved. The transition from her lover to her friend was easy. The love was always there, just the relationship looked different.”
He recalls that Paris yearned to be fully accepted by everyone in her biological family beyond her previous identity as a gay male. She wanted to have a family of her own.
Her immediate family loved her, but struggled with her Transness, in his recollection. “When she was with her family, everything was cool. They really only had an issue with Paris the woman… When she was a gay boy, they were fine. They loved her, but to her, their inability to accept her Transness didn’t translate as love,” Jordan says. “For her 21st birthday this year, she was supposed to go to Atlanta and start over as Paris. She had been talking about it and made up her mind that that was what she wanted to do.”
Patricia adds, “She was a sweet girl. She had a habit of leaving lashes in the bathroom, which got on all of our nerves. But other than that, I have no complaints. Between all of us living together, when one had it, we all had it [as far as socioeconomic resources were concerned].’’
Jordan says that Paris always had him listening to twerk music and Detroit rap. He knows some of Paris’ favorite songs and helped create a playlist for those who want to vogue and twerk in her memory.
“She taught all those she loved to have fun,” Jordan says. “I know she’s currently advocating for the legalization of twerking in heaven.”
Paris’ primary circle of chosen family included Amara Neal, her cousin Lemon Hudson, and numerous other young black LGBTQ+ Detroiters.
Amara, a known Trans activist in Detroit, says she and Paris were very close. “Paris, meant everything to me,” recalls Amara, who is still grieving the loss of her sister. “When I was going through something, I would call her, and when she was going through something, she would call me. Life is really empty without her.”
Amara goes on to say, “Paris taught me to love myself. I feel like I won’t ever have another friend like that. We had a regular friendship, but we also had the closeness of sisters. [This has been] the hardest [six months] of my life, [being] without her.
“Nobody understands what me and my girls [have] been through… It hurts me to this day that she was buried as a boy instead of as the girl I knew she was. Paris was energetic and loving. (That’s how we all are.) Paris was a real, bubbly person, very defensive of her friends, outrageously fun, and playful. All she wanted was for me to do the best that I could.”
“She was more than a person—she was a star, and no one can ever take that away from her. She was my best friend, the best sister, and, in my case, the best cousin a person could ask for.”
Despite the loss, the memories bring Amara comfort.
“We woke up kiking and went to sleep kiking!” she continues. “I remember when she first sprouted her hormone titty, she kept trying to go to the hospital because she thought something was wrong with her… I remember when we would vogue together, [we vogued until] our wigs would fall off and be cracking our heads on the wall. Paris was everything to us — a big piece of our circle is missing.”
Lemon also has fond memories of his cousin.
“She was more than a person—she was a star, and no one can ever take that away from her,” Lemon says. “She was my best friend, the best sister, and, in my case, the best cousin a person could ask for. She was so brave and very outspoken, but that’s what we loved about her. The loyalty runs so deep with her that everyone came to her for anything, and she didn’t hesitate to help them. She was the glue that held things together for so many people, mainly with her girls. She was beautiful inside and out and had the most lovely soul. She wasn’t scared to be herself and gave no fucks about what anyone thought or said about her. She lived in her truth!’’
On a personal note, I’m very grateful I get to uplift Black Trans narratives by telling Paris’ story. These anecdotes and quotes make it evident that Paris was authentic and consistent as a person. I remember the heavy wave of grief that blanketed our community when we found out about her murder. It was an intense blow to all of our hearts, not only because she was so powerful and so young, but because we loved her and because she loved us. #ParisCameronForever
