Dear loved ones of Malik Kareem Fadel. (He/Him)(Sir/Prince)

Last year a small group of us , nicknamed “the fam” by Malik, came together to support Malik.

We are writing this statement.

With heavy hearts we are here to let you know that earlier this week Malik passed away.

A few years ago, Malik’s health significantly changed, as Sir became unable to walk and started to use a wheelchair. As the health problems piled up, the quality of healthcare Malik received began to drastically decline. Like many Disabled QTBIPOC folks, Malik’s access to formal support was limited and sir relied on chosen family and close friends. We thank those that were part of that support system dearly.

Malik referenced MAID amongst close friends for some time, due to the lack of systematic support. In Malik’s final conversations with chosen family, Prince asked what was there to do when there were just no more options left. Malik’s had just been denied support again.

While the popular narrative is that it was ridiculous if we treated physical health like mental health and just dismissed everything with poor life advice, it’s not an either or. As more physical symptoms popped up with actual evidence behind them, they continued to be ignored. Having both physical and mental health issues puts you in a position where neither are addressed.

Malik was between a rock and a hard place, and in lieu of waiting for /trying to qualify for MAID, Malik took his life into his own hands and chose to unalive himself.

This is the direct result of gross systemic failure.

There is a lot to process right now as we sort through how we are best able to honour our friend and chosen family member.

Chosen families do not have legal rights in these situations, and this complicates memorializing our community as queer and trans people too often.

But it will not stop us.

We will be starting a fundraiser to help with final arrangements, with the remainder going to skipping stone.

We will keep you all updated regarding a celebration of life and any further updates.