When Is It Going to Stop?

[EnderD_503]

Originally Posted by DapperButch

That would certainly be fantastic, Ender, but I don't hold out much hope.

This just happened in February in Baltimore:

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news...ruggled_f.html

Thanks for sharing the article, Dapper. This happens far too often. One thing that I hoped would spark change in this case is that it was caught on tape and happened in front of a number of witnesses who did nothing. I don't know why I thought that would make a difference, but I thought if they could actually see the brutality many transwomen face for themselves they would finally understand how badly transfolks need legal protection.

One thing I noticed with the article about Tyra as well as Crissy (and in articles on other transwomen who have been beaten or murdered) is that the reporters always see fit to include criminal records that include prostitution as well as charges related to poverty and prostitution. Why is this relevant to their deaths? Are the reporters implying that it is relevant? The sad reality for many transwomen is that their circumstances force them into sex work that often puts them in situations where they might suffer even more abuse. Those writing about their abuse and/or murder should take that into consideration when they start revealing these things to the public.

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by EnderD_503

Thanks for sharing the article, Dapper. This happens far too often. One thing that I hoped would spark change in this case is that it was caught on tape and happened in front of a number of witnesses who did nothing. I don't know why I thought that would make a difference, but I thought if they could actually see the brutality many transwomen face for themselves they would finally understand how badly transfolks need legal protection.

One thing I noticed with the article about Tyra as well as Crissy (and in articles on other transwomen who have been beaten or murdered) is that the reporters always see fit to include criminal records that include prostitution as well as charges related to poverty and prostitution. Why is this relevant to their deaths? Are the reporters implying that it is relevant? The sad reality for many transwomen is that their circumstances force them into sex work that often puts them in situations where they might suffer even more abuse. Those writing about their abuse and/or murder should take that into consideration when they start revealing these things to the public.

This has been the case for women in general forever. Transwomen are certainly among the highest populations to be assaulted and killed within gender variant groups, yet, so much comes down to misogyny.

I am also thinking about transmen that have been assaulted because they arn't real men.

As the season of many Pride events is upon us, I hope there is more awareness of these kinds of hate crimes promoted. We all need to make a lot more noise about these crimes.

[EnderD_503]

A lot of ridiculous shit is being said in the media now. The article below is picking up on a trend in some media sources and blogs talking about this being a "racially motivated" hate crime. I am literally fuming right now and here is why (and posted this in the comments in site below as well):

a) calling this anything else than transphobia and even neglecting to call it transphobia (ie. "racially motivated") seems like they are covering up the severity and brutal reality of transphobia. b) it attempts to pit marginalized group against marginalized group instead of looking at it as cisgender women (or in other cases, cis people in general) assaulting a trans person solely because they are trans.

When is mainstream society going to take a good hard look at transphobia? It doesn't help that half of them don't even know what being transgender means. Homophobia is a term recognised in the mainstream, and I wish transphobia carried the same status as far as awareness of existence. The lack of awareness renders many transfolks invisible in these cases.

http://www.bilerico.com/2011/04/mcdo...ied_camera.php

But I am heartened by the fact that the petition going around has jumped from 4000 to 10,000 signatures in a matter of hours. When I read the comments on the petition I am both heartened and made aware of how much work there is to be done in educating people. I'm glad that many are appalled by the violence this transwoman faced at the hands of those two girls. But many seem to think transwoman = gay man in stereotypical female clothing. That needs to change. Their heart seems to be in the right place though.

Also, the "cameraman" has been fired, which I'm happy to hear. I think he should face charges, though, considering he was egging the girls on, telling them to leave before the police came and generally acting like this woman deserved to be assaulted.

[Daywalker]

Originally Posted by EnderD_503

A lot of ridiculous shit is being said in the media now. The article below is picking up on a trend in some media sources and blogs talking about this being a "racially motivated" hate crime. I am literally fuming right now and here is why (and posted this in the comments in site below as well):

a) calling this anything else than transphobia and even neglecting to call it transphobia (ie. "racially motivated") seems like they are covering up the severity and brutal reality of transphobia. b) it attempts to pit marginalized group against marginalized group instead of looking at it as cisgender women (or in other cases, cis people in general) assaulting a trans person solely because they are trans.

When is mainstream society going to take a good hard look at transphobia? It doesn't help that half of them don't even know what being transgender means. Homophobia is a term recognised in the mainstream, and I wish transphobia carried the same status as far as awareness of existence. The lack of awareness renders many transfolks invisible in these cases.

http://www.bilerico.com/2011/04/mcdo...ied_camera.php

But I am heartened by the fact that the petition going around has jumped from 4000 to 10,000 signatures in a matter of hours. When I read the comments on the petition I am both heartened and made aware of how much work there is to be done in educating people. I'm glad that many are appalled by the violence this transwoman faced at the hands of those two girls. But many seem to think transwoman = gay man in stereotypical female clothing. That needs to change. Their heart seems to be in the right place though.

Also, the "cameraman" has been fired, which I'm happy to hear. I think he should face charges, though, considering he was egging the girls on, telling them to leave before the police came and generally acting like this woman deserved to be assaulted.

And I don't want to simplify this in the least ~ but my thought is, if I was
looking for racially motivated in this crime, it would quickly occur to me
that the woman who stepped in did not share the same race as the
attackers ~ which seems to me, she too would have sustained
an attack as well, especially since she was the
only one who had the lions heart to
roar back in the whole place.

[EnderD_503]

The victim has commented on the attack and says she's been frightened to leave her home since it happened:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/mar...,3336656.story

"My record's got nothing to do with what happened in McDonald's," she said. "Anyone in my predicament should not be afraid to walk the streets. They should not have to go into a restaurant and get gawked at and made fun of. They shouldn't be afraid to leave the house. It's just wrong."

and then they go and write this:

Polis, who has a criminal record that includes charges of prostitution and property destruction, said she plans to take legal action against the restaurant.

The first part of this sentence has nothing to do with the last. What does having a record have to do with planning to take legal action on someone who assaults you?

@Daywalker, I agree with you. Also, if it was racially motivated I doubt the events would have transpired over the use of a public washroom. If she had simply been a white ciswoman I don't think they would have started randomly assaulting her for being in a public washroom.

[Soon]

Originally Posted by EnderD_503

The victim has commented on the attack and says she's been frightened to leave her home since it happened:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/mar...,3336656.story



and then they go and write this:



The first part of this sentence has nothing to do with the last. What does having a record have to do with planning to take legal action on someone who assaults you?

@Daywalker, I agree with you. Also, if it was racially motivated I doubt the events would have transpired over the use of a public washroom. If she had simply been a white ciswoman I don't think they would have started randomly assaulting her for being in a public washroom.

It also reads:

It's not the first time, Polis said, that she's been picked on — physically — because of her sexual preferences. She said she's been subjected to beatings and even sexual assaults.

[Daywalker]

Originally Posted by HowSoonIsNow

It also reads:

It's not the first time, Polis said, that she's been picked on — physically — because of her sexual preferences. She said she's been subjected to beatings and even sexual assaults.

Who ever is behind that typerwriter need to give up their chair.
Her being Trans is not an indicator of her Sexual Preferences.

[Heart]

This crime victim will now be subjected to the routine victim-blaming so common in the media: She has a record, she was intoxicated, she's not a "perfect victim," she brought it on herself...etc. This shifting of accountability away from the perpetrators and onto the victim continues in the criminal justice system. This is one of the primary reasons crime victims do not speak out, and do not want charges filed.

[EnderD_503]

Originally Posted by AtLastHome

All state hate crime laws need to include gender identity! This is a key issue in the fight for the civil rights of transgendered people in the USA. And we continue to try and get ENDA passed.....

Sometimes I just want to scream!

Oh, and Day, yes, this "reporter" really needs to do some homework about this subject matter. Yet, my guess is that the majority of the general public is as gender-ignorant as this writer which is very much related to why this happened and does everywhere.

I agree, hate crime laws do need to include gender identity and expression. In some ways I feel like "gender identity and expression" downplays the issue when it comes to transfolks, but I also recognise that it's hard to develop the language for it that includes all gender variant people. It also makes it easier for the general public to understand, I think. Anyways, all that to say that I agree...right now a new article I was reading had this quote from an investigator:

"Generally when it comes to cases that involve racial, religious, ethnic or sexual orientation from an investigative standpoint, we approach the case from the perspective of the victim," he said.

But none of these things cover her... It's also been reported that she has had SRS and I'm assuming that she's now "legally female" since the reporters have been so courteous as to not plaster her birth name in every single article like they do with many other transwomen (though they did mention it in first articles...why it's relevant I don't know). Her sexual orientation hasn't been revealed anywhere...one of her attackers apparently also started accusing her of "talking to her man" and spat in her face. Of course, that obviously clashes with them shouting "that's a dude, that's a dude and he's in the female washroom." So on the one hand the supposed worry is "she's talking to my man," and the other is this is "a dude in the female washroom"...there is no clear pattern of how they perceived her sexual orientation, but only that her sex/gender did not appear "normal" to them. They need to include gender/sex variant people in hate crime laws. Otherwise there will never be adequate protection for trans people and it's always going to be like this...a hate crime against a trans person occurs and they scramble to call it something that it isn't, or they just claim it's a "random" assault that has nothing to do with who they are.

Originally Posted by Heart

This crime victim will now be subjected to the routine victim-blaming so common in the media: She has a record, she was intoxicated, she's not a "perfect victim," she brought it on herself...etc. This shifting of accountability away from the perpetrators and onto the victim continues in the criminal justice system. This is one of the primary reasons crime victims do not speak out, and do not want charges filed.

Yeah, just read that new update saying she was intoxicated, and of course they must mention in every article that she was a sex-worker. Have the police claimed that this is relevant to the assault on her at all? Not that I've read, so it just seems like the media want to make sure we know she isn't as "innocent" as she seems. If it hadn't been caught on tape, I wonder how people would spin it to further question whether she was truly a victim. She was "lucky" in that sense, the video footage speaks volumes even though it was taken by an idiot who didn't care to help her.

Also, media like Fox are apparently continuing to put a racial spin on this. It's so angering, because it's obvious these people couldn't care less about a transwoman being beaten and are just using her pain to further their own racism. The horrific actions of her attackers had nothing to do with their race or her race.

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by Heart

This crime victim will now be subjected to the routine victim-blaming so common in the media: She has a record, she was intoxicated, she's not a "perfect victim," she brought it on herself...etc. This shifting of accountability away from the perpetrators and onto the victim continues in the criminal justice system. This is one of the primary reasons crime victims do not speak out, and do not want charges filed.

Exactly! Think of how many victims are scrutinized by the defense at trial. They are re-victimized.

[DapperButch]

Originally Posted by EnderD_503

A lot of ridiculous shit is being said in the media now. The article below is picking up on a trend in some media sources and blogs talking about this being a "racially motivated" hate crime. I am literally fuming right now and here is why (and posted this in the comments in site below as well):

a) calling this anything else than transphobia and even neglecting to call it transphobia (ie. "racially motivated") seems like they are covering up the severity and brutal reality of transphobia. b) it attempts to pit marginalized group against marginalized group instead of looking at it as cisgender women (or in other cases, cis people in general) assaulting a trans person solely because they are trans.

When is mainstream society going to take a good hard look at transphobia? It doesn't help that half of them don't even know what being transgender means. Homophobia is a term recognised in the mainstream, and I wish transphobia carried the same status as far as awareness of existence. The lack of awareness renders many transfolks invisible in these cases.

http://www.bilerico.com/2011/04/mcdo...ied_camera.php

*SNIP*

Ender, I appreciate you posting updates as they came in.

I noticed in the first article the police said they would "upgrade" (my quotes), it to a hate crime if they found it to be racially motivated. It was said right on the heels of Equality Maryland speaking out (about her being trans...which DOESN'T relate...I remember thinking it strange that they put it in the same paragraph as Equality MD's statement).

In the State of MD hate crimes do not include gender identity. It does include race.

If upgraded to a hate crime the penalities are more severe. I would wonder that if it is upgraded, what is the police's motivation/reason for doing so?

1) because they want the suspects to get a stiffer sentence b/c they care about transpeople?

2) because the people in charge of making that decision are of a different race than African-American and are fueled by there own racism?

3) because it makes the police/state look good to apply the hate crime law?

4) because the police force/state gets something material out of calling it a hate crime (government money, other "bonuses"?)?

Don't know, but I doubt it is number one...

[DamonK]

I...just watched this video.

I don't really have any words. When I was a kid, it was a safe place to go. Even now, MBE and I will go there and hang out on our laptops.

I'm used to having to watch my back. I am soooo used to that.

But, this was the one place I could go and let my guard down just a little bit.

Now I never want to go back.

[dykeumentary]

This story also happened this week:

Police: Father kills 2 over daughter's girlfriend
© 2011 The Associated Press
April 20, 2011, 4:42PM


AUSTIN, Texas — A man upset over his high school-age daughter's lesbian relationship fatally shot her 24-year-old girlfriend and the girlfriend's mother, Austin police said Wednesday.
Jose Alfonso Aviles, 45, has been charged with capital murder. Police say Aviles shot to death Norma Hurtado, 24, and her mother, 57-year-old Maria Hurtado, on Monday night after knocking on their door.
Aviles was arrested early Tuesday morning in a wooded area in nearby Bexar County. He was expected to be transferred to the Travis County jail Wednesday, Austin police Sgt. Hector Reveles told The Associated Press. Reveles said he had no information on an attorney.
The Austin American-Statesman reported that police and court documents said Aviles' daughter was in the home at the time and found the two after the shooting, which police say came after a months-long feud between the families.
The daughter's "family was quite upset over this relationship," Austin police Lt. Gena Curtis told the newspaper. "This had been an ongoing dispute between these families and it turned tragic, into a horrific act of violence with the death of two individuals."
The daughter told police that she and Norma Hurtado had been involved in a lesbian relationship and that her father didn't approve.
The affidavit said a witness told police that the daughter's parents would send threatening text messages to Norma Hurtado. In one message, Aviles threatened to kill Hurtado and her mother, the document said.
Friends of the daughter said she had turned 18 last month. Reveles would not reveal the daughter's age, citing the investigation.
The Travis County district attorney's office has not determined whether the case will be classified as a hate crime.
"It is something we will have to take a look at after the investigation is more complete," said Jackie Wood, an assistant district attorney and a member of the office's hate crime task force.
Police also said they are looking for a second unidentified man who witnesses said fled the scene with Aviles in a green sport utility vehicle.
___
Information from: Austin American-Statesman, http://www.statesman.com

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by dykeumentary

This story also happened this week:

Police: Father kills 2 over daughter's girlfriend
© 2011 The Associated Press
April 20, 2011, 4:42PM


AUSTIN, Texas — A man upset over his high school-age daughter's lesbian relationship fatally shot her 24-year-old girlfriend and the girlfriend's mother, Austin police said Wednesday.
Jose Alfonso Aviles, 45, has been charged with capital murder. Police say Aviles shot to death Norma Hurtado, 24, and her mother, 57-year-old Maria Hurtado, on Monday night after knocking on their door.
Aviles was arrested early Tuesday morning in a wooded area in nearby Bexar County. He was expected to be transferred to the Travis County jail Wednesday, Austin police Sgt. Hector Reveles told The Associated Press. Reveles said he had no information on an attorney.
The Austin American-Statesman reported that police and court documents said Aviles' daughter was in the home at the time and found the two after the shooting, which police say came after a months-long feud between the families.
The daughter's "family was quite upset over this relationship," Austin police Lt. Gena Curtis told the newspaper. "This had been an ongoing dispute between these families and it turned tragic, into a horrific act of violence with the death of two individuals."
The daughter told police that she and Norma Hurtado had been involved in a lesbian relationship and that her father didn't approve.
The affidavit said a witness told police that the daughter's parents would send threatening text messages to Norma Hurtado. In one message, Aviles threatened to kill Hurtado and her mother, the document said.
Friends of the daughter said she had turned 18 last month. Reveles would not reveal the daughter's age, citing the investigation.
The Travis County district attorney's office has not determined whether the case will be classified as a hate crime.
"It is something we will have to take a look at after the investigation is more complete," said Jackie Wood, an assistant district attorney and a member of the office's hate crime task force.
Police also said they are looking for a second unidentified man who witnesses said fled the scene with Aviles in a green sport utility vehicle.
___
Information from: Austin American-Statesman, http://www.statesman.com

Every identity within the LGBTI-Q community/population is at risk for violence and for me, is the main reason I try support us all. I feel such a need for us to break-down obstacles within our diverse sub-communities under the Queer umbrella (every single one of them), communicate, organize, share resources, build political coalitions and fight this violence.

As Pride events are nearing here in the SF Bay Area, I continue to feel sadness with the separations that exist between the L-B-G and T-I-Q comunities. it is better than it used to be, but, we have a long way to go.

I really struggle with having 3 different "parades"- one for Gays, another for Dykes and one for Trans. On one hand, I understand this dynamic and individual celebration aspect, on the hand, I feel like it impedes really raising consciousness and money to fight these fights.