Daphne Dorman, trans activist and comedienne referenced in Dave Chappelle's Netflix special, commits suicide at 44

Just before taking her own life, the comic actress penned what seemed to be a suicide note on Facebook, where she asked for forgiveness and bid farewell to her loved ones. 
UPDATED MAR 9, 2020
(Source : Getty Images)
(Source : Getty Images)

Transgender comedian activist Daphne Dorman, who was referenced in Dave Chapelle's Netflix special, "Sticks and Stones" committed suicide on Friday, October 11. 

Just before taking her own life, the comic actress penned what seemed to be a suicide note on Facebook, where she asked for forgiveness and bid farewell to her loved ones. 

"I'm sorry," she wrote in her post. "I've thought about this a lot before this morning. How do you say "goodbye" and "I'm sorry" and "I love you" to all the beautiful souls you know? For the last time. There's no good way. That's what I got out of all that thought."

The note added: "To those of you who are mad at me: please forgive me. To those of you who wonder if you failed me: you didn't. To those of you feel like I failed you: I did and I'm sorry and I hope you'll remember me in better times and better light. I love you all. I'm sorry. Please help my daughter, Naia, understand that none of this is her fault. Please remind her that I loved her with every fiber of my being."

The post had her own photo attached to it, with the dates "30 April 1975 - 11 October 2019" written at the bottom. A second photo attached to the post was of her and her daughter. 

The news of her death was confirmed by the Office of Transgender Initiatives in San Francisco, California, on their Twitter account. 

Dorman volunteered at the San Francisco LGBT Center as an instructor for Transcode, which was "a series of classes aimed at training transgender members of our community for a career in technology with specific emphasis on programming for the internet."

She also created her own web development agency and worked as a Senior Software Engineer for Vineti, LLC until August, Daily Mail reported. 

After starting her acting career in Philadelphia, Dorman began spent 12 years as a TV and stage actress. She was also Director of Operations, who taught improvisation and stage combat classes at The Actors Center of Philadelphia. 

Although "Sticks and Stones" was slammed by critics as an "anti-trans" show for making a series of jokes targeting trans people, Dorman thanked Chapelle for "normalizing transgenders." The latter also mentioned in his epilogue how Dorman would attend many of his shows and laugh at his jokes. 

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