Nikki Kuhnhausen Was Killed by Transphobia

Nikki Kuhnhausen was 17 when she was murdered last year, in what police officers believe was an act of anti-trans violence. Now friends, family, and LGBTQ+ people are coming together to honor her and change the legal system. BLAIR STENVICK

When Lisa Woods reminisces about her daughter Nikki Kuhnhausen, one story makes her especially proud.

Kuhnhausen was one of a handful of transgender high-school students at Hudson’s Bay High School in Vancouver, Washington, from 2015 to 2019. She was known for being tough, and often got disciplined at school for fighting with other students who picked on her or a friend. One day in her sophomore year, she saw a younger trans student crying outside the women’s restroom. Other teens had kicked the student out.

“Nikki demanded their names,” says Woods, speaking at her home in a heavily forested neighborhood in Vancouver. Woods is a middle-aged woman with wavy blonde hair and sad eyes, though they perk up when she recounts this story. “She went and got them and made them apologize,” says Woods, who adds that the student was never bullied again. “[They were] safe with Nikki around.”