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View Day of Remembrance Video
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The following are stories
being collected from the
community involving various levels of Hate Crimes based upon ones Gender
Identity and/or Expression experienced here in
Connecticut. We have additionally included several key
National stories, to indicate the scope and
potential nature of this violence. As stories are received over the
next month, we will post them here.
If you have a story, or know of someone experiencing bias motivated
hate/violence based upon Gender Identity and/or Expression please contact us
at
hatecrimes@transadvocacy.com or call us at (860) 680-9952.
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Story One...
I am sorry I
can't be there in person. I am currently residing in California for the
time being. I think that it's a little friendlier here and safer here for
Transgendered People. I want it someday to be at least as safe in
Connecticut as it is here.
When I was little, I was made fun of just becasue I looked and acted a
little different. When I was in my teens at least 4 people beat me because
I was. I left school in the ninth grade, because they wanted to force me
to change for gym.
I spent 10 years of my life mostly doing any drug I got my hands on just
so I wouldn't have to feel anything. It's not recreational use if you
don't want to live.
When I was in my twenties, I grew a little, got my GED and found the
courage just to let my hair grow a little. I tried to be myself. I was
walking to work one morning across the train bridge connecting the
Downtown and the East Side of New Britain. Two people past me. One person
said something like, “—Better not be looking at me faggot.” They past. The
next day one of them hit me so hard I thought he could have killed me.
They knew nothing about me, except for I looked different. There were two
people—what could I do against them?
I empathised with myself and saw myself as a person like any other. I knew
that they would be there the next day. I snapped and became rageful. When
I found anything that I could use as a weapon. I went after them. I
collapsed my right lung trying to catch them. Every moring as I get
dressed, I am reminded.
I must live with the scars of my own rage for the rest of my life. I must
live with the scars of their blind hatred for the rest of my life.
When I transitioned to living as a female. I noticed that I had been
exposed to so much hatred for being different, that I internalized that
hatred too. It took years to stop hating myself for just trying to who I
am inside.
I am generally afraid of other people, partially becasue of things like
this. Lately I have been thinking about going to college. I know, but I
don't seem to get it that schools don't have to be the place where people
make fun of you and hit you becasue you are different.
I am on disability right now. I have had time to examine my life.
(Crying) It's so easy to fall into the trap of what my life could have
been like, but I think maybe its better to try to help make the future
better, and I hope my example—even as it is, helps.
Thank You
<Name Withheld>
Story Two...
Transphobia – My Story
I must admit that writing my story regarding the Transphobia I have
experienced is not an easy story to tell. Not because it is complicated,
rather that it brings to the surface much pain and anguish that I truly
prefer not to recall. When I transitioned and began fully living my life in
my Inherent sex [Female], as opposed to my Birth Sex [Male], I and many
friends and family worried for me. Much of this worry was centered on my
safety.
My story is a life story that is not a unique one. It is similar to many I
have heard from my other Trans and gender variant Sisters and Brothers, both
here in Connecticut and in many other states around the US. It is a simple
story of how our lives are ones of being highly visible in a society that
only marginally recognizes and accepts the Transsexual or gender variant
person. And as a consequence of this visibility and oppression, it is a
story of abuse and hate – physical, verbal and emotional.
Though this story primarily discusses incidents of hate focused directly at
me, it is also a story of how loved ones can also indirectly be victims of
this hate. Specifically, because of the fear of potential violence directed
at my being a Transsexual, the custody with my two sons was restricted. The
argument used was that I was a potential target of Transphobic hate and
violence and so the safety of my two sons was implicitly jeopardized.
At any rate, it is an undeniable fact that once I transitioned and was
openly out and visible, I experienced many forms of bias and hate. This ran
and continues to run the gamut from verbal abuse, to threats and threatening
acts, to physical assault, and even to employment and housing
discrimination.
To be specific:
I was physically assaulted by two males, who took offense to my being a
Transwoman. I was repeatedly punched and verbally assaulted by the
attackers. This incident occurred over a long enough time period that the
parking lot attendants called the Police and they arrived shortly. The
moment the police arrived, the two men and their girlfriends began to state,
quite loudly and vocally, how the freak had started the confrontation and
proclaiming their innocence. Needless to say, I panicked for I recalled the
many prior occasions, in many cities around the US, of how transwomen like
me have been victimized by an abuser and re-victimized by the system meant
to protect them. I began to ask myself, what if the police do not understand
Transsexuality, and so by default accept the story of the attackers? I need
to be honest that my biggest fear is being arrested and incarcerated
overnight. I do not need to tell you the stories around this issue. Though I
stayed by my car, the two males went straight up to the police, defending
themselves and accusing me. The police told them to return to the vicinity
of their car and to be quiet. At that time, the two parking lot attendants
also went to the police. They stated they had seen the incident and that I
was attacked by the two males. Though I knew my story would be collaborated,
this provided me little solitude, for I had no idea how the police stood
around my being Trans. Though, I would love to believe the world is fair and
understanding, I have learned through very hard and difficult experiences
that this is far from the truth, especially around Transsexuality. The
police talked to all parties and when they talked to me they knew I was
scared - I cried and felt extremely vulnerable. They finally asked me if I
wanted to press charges. I answered with a response that to this day I still
regret, and that was No! At this point you may be saying – How could she say
No? That if I were in her shoes, I would have pursued this case. All I can
say is that unless you truly live day in and day out in my shoes, you cannot
know the fear I experienced that evening. All I could think is that
something would go wrong or they would not believe my story and I would end
up in jail. Additionally, they asked if I wanted a paramedic to tend to my
wounds. However, again I said no! Images of prior transwomen such as Tyra
Hunter and JoLea Lamot, who had been re-victimized by EMT’s and the police,
flashed through my mind and all I wanted to do was go home where I could
close the door behind me from the world and be safe to tend to my wounds and
cry. I am crying now, as I recant this story, for it hurts very much. It
hurts because I did not press charges, it hurts because I don’t pass, it
hurts because I victimized myself, and it hurts to know that this can easily
happen again. And not just to me!
What is still ironic is that I was the victim, yet that day and many
subsequent days I continue to victimize myself over this incident --
thinking no one would defend a Transsexual over two middle class, straight
white men.
I learned on that day, to carefully watch my surroundings when I am out, to
think twice about whether a new store I would go into would be safe, who I
stopped and said hello to – many of the things I use to take for granted
when I did not cross the gender binaries! It is a sad way to live life,
however, I and many of my Trans and gender variant Sisters and Brothers have
learned what and where are safe places for us to go into or be around.
Other Incidents:
I and another Transwoman were eating in a Diner one evening. Shortly after
we sat down at our booth, four men sat at the booth next to us. They began
making both Trans and Homophobic epitaphs directly at us, as well as
indirectly about us. This verbal harassment continued for what seemed to be
an eternity, with very little let up or quieting. We felt our best and
safest option was not to confront them or to request management assistance,
for this in the long run could just have made the situation worse for us or
simply fuel their hate and anger even more. Whether this was the correct
decision or not, I still ask myself today. However, it was the decision two
scared transwomen made under a very difficult situation. So we sat at our
booth trying our best to ignore the insults and threats. I presume that they
finally realized their hate would not engage us in any violent or visible
counter protest, so they finally stopped and went on with their business.
Though the harassment and threats had stopped, we both were in desperate
fear that when we left, they would either follow or be waiting for us to
continue this attack. So, for good or bad, we stayed in our booth for nearly
an hour after they left. I must note that I had to pee really bad, though I
was so scared to leave the security of that booth that I endured the
hardship. Finally, when we thought we had waited long enough we left our
booth. We had mentioned the incident to the manager, who apparently, or so
stated, was not aware of this harassment and seemed to really not care about
our complaint. We very cautiously walked out into the late dark night with
our eyes casting about for any indication of their presence. We hustled to
my car, where I proceeded to take her to her car. I followed her home and
then when all seemed Ok, I proceeded home.
Needless to say, I could recount other incidents ranging from verbal abuse
to intimidation, though hope you are left with a sense of vulnerability, as
well as potential and actual violence, that is perpetrated upon one simply
for transgressing the gender and sex binaries of Male/Female.
Story Three...
I went to the Buckland Mall some years back and there were a group of
high school age kids hanging out in the open walkway areas. When I
finished my business and returned to my car, I was followed by a young
male teenager and his girlfriend. When I drove out of the parking lot
they sped up and headed me off, the young man hurling insults in my
direction about my gender identity. He then roared off in his pickup
truck, and I was left both angry and frightened by the incident. It made
me wonder if it was safe for me to come back and shop at the Mall.
I have long since overcome my fears about shopping there or in other
public places but it does illustrate the attempt to bully trans people
with insults and threats of violence.
<Name Withheld>
Story Four...
Stares, remarks, glowering expressions of personal
dissatisfaction with one’s “appearance” or gender expression, denial of
service, lack of appreciation, social ostracization, inability to get hired
or advance one’s career, exclusion from housing, unsatisfactory medical care
and treatment…these are situations those of us in the transgendered
community confront on a daily basis. Many of us don’t “pass” or blend into a
crowd as much as we’d prefer. But these dilemmas above pale when compared
with:
Loss of one’s job, loss of one’s marriage and family, loss of limb…
Loss of life.
Is there anyone who would tell me that these facts of our lives are
exaggerated? Is there anyone who is willing to submit that the above is a
fantasy?
The annual body count is recited on Remembrance Day, tragic testimonials to
a needless slaughter. These are only those we know of. How many more pass on
unnoticed? The good news is that there is no need for memorial services for
those who manage to survive the brutal attacks, beatings, heartless
mutilations. Good news? Their maimed bodies portray offensive evidence.
To be transgendered is ***NOT*** a personal choice. For those who truly
believe that I ask them this simple question: “Did you select your own birth
form?” Neither did any of us in the transgendered community. More and more
hard scientific evidence points to the reality that we are hard-wired at
birth, genetically formed as any other group. Presented with the litany of
obstacles and problems listed above is there anyone foolish enough to
suggest a transgendered individual would choose this reality
A transgendered woman explained it this way:
"Take everything you own: money, house, car, all of it. Put them on a table.
Put your friends, family, your job - everything - there too.
Now, agree that any or all of it can be taken from you at any time without
notice, without your consent, and you have to smile and like it."
That's what it's really like.
That there are some in contemporary society who take umbrage at our very
existence is all too real and threatning. For far too many, this reality
dominates their lives. What is our recourse?
Are we to remain prisoners of past, trapped forever by
hatred as vile and despicable as any hatred on earth. Long ago it was
recognized that Black Americans should not be relegated to an inferior
social or legal status. That legal reversal overturned a horrific initiation
during our country’s birth and formative years.
Were there repercussions? Sadly, far, far too many. From
the Civil War to the present it is clear that Black Americans—and all people
of color—have needed legal guidelines and assistance to protect them as
citizens in minority.
Women were not permitted to cast votes until the law was changed. Is there
anyone who would have the audacity to publicly proclaim women to be unworthy
of the same privileges as men? Yet, it was not so long ago that women were
not allowed to hold office or express our political viewpoints without legal
sanction.
Until that golden sunny dawn when all people are recognized to be equal,
each person granted the same treatment, laws must be in place then enforced
to guarantee protection. This isn’t a question of style, gender or anything
other than a simple quest for fundamental human rights.
How long must we live in fear without legal recourse?
Back to Top
Story Five...
Testimony given at Hate Crime hearing last year.
I pulled into a restaurant which was really
convenient and there was the bar. And there were two people, a couple
there, a female bartender. And there was no where else to sit, no one else
was sitting anywhere else in this restaurant.
And I sat with them and I had a drink and we
talked about UConn basketball and my son was in the marching bands and
things. And there was a man there. He was about 25 years old and he was
Argentinean. And he started to make lewd comments to me and this person,
this woman next to me, she was with her date, I have to think it was her
husband. And he was insistent. And we brushed him off, go away. And he was
away for about fifteen minutes and we just kept talking and he went out
the door, came back and he was drinking some more at the table.
I got up to leave. I was the first one to go,
walking out the door, going over to my car, and suddenly he ran out the
door and stopped me and he went like this and he said, "You're not going
anywhere, you're coming with me."
So he pointed to his groin area and said I was
going to have sex with him. He wouldn't let me leave. I was frantic. I
never experienced anything like this in my life.
He started to use Karate on me, kicking and
punching and things. Luckily, I was what I was back in the old days, good
condition. So I was able to hold him off until -- well, he kicked me in
the face.
And then he reached into his pocket like this -
coat pocket, tried to pull something out and I screamed my head off and my
voice broke and that was like four months when I was in the beginning of
my transition. He kept on doing this and I was absolutely -- you cannot
believe the feeling. He came -- you can't honestly believe the feeling.
Two people came out the door. I was trying
desperately get back to the door to get somebody's attention and the
couple, when they came out, they just went immediately to the car and I
asked them, please -- he ran off and I said, "Please wait" because I
couldn't find my keys. They went and I saw the keys in the dark after a
while, picked them up and I got in my car and I was going to go home. And
I said, I cant' do this because I was afraid the man would come after me.
So I got on the cell phone and I called 911. these
things aren't on, right? And the police department -- I got connected to
the dispatchers, Shelton dispatcher and she led me to the police station
about twenty minutes.
Okay, here we go. I'm going to read what I said
here. I went -- I told the dispatcher I was a preoperative transsexual
because my voice was broken after I screamed and I was in extreme fear for
my life, which was absolutely true.
She led me to the station saying that an officer
would be waiting for me. When I got there, she told me where to park.
There was no officer, nobody. And I went inside, closed the car and went
inside and there was nobody there. Nobody at the window, nothing. There
was just complete silence. And I was -- how would you feel when you feel
like there's a man following you that could possibly be after you to kill
you? Some crazed person. And that's how my condition was at the time.
So, I was trying to find the doorway so I can get
in, at least open the door and find somebody. I wanted some protection.
And then all of a sudden someone appeared at the window. This was after a
few minutes. They appeared at the window. They heard everything that was
going on. They saw everything. This is all -- they saw -- they were
sitting in there and when she appeared, he or she appeared, I didn't know
then, I just automatically threw my arm up and I hit something that was on
the side of the window. And I didn't realize even that I hit anything. And
the plastic thing that was screwed on the wall and it fell on the floor
and I just said right there and then, "forget it." I turned around because
someone was wrong. I turned around and I started to go out the door and
immediately three police officers come running after me. They stopped me
just before I got into my car, they threw me to the ground. I was dressed
very similarly to this. My hair the same as this.
They threw me to the ground, threw me and my head
against the car. It was a brand new car. They put handcuffs on me and
pushed my hands up against the car, told me I was under arrest.
I was just dialing 911 - called 911. I said
someone was supposed to be here to help me. Where are you?
They dragged me inside and they began
interrogating me. One of the first things that was said to me was the
female officer says, "I think she's a prostitute." And I turned and said
I'm not a prostitute. She says, "It's okay, I have friends who are
prostitutes, it's okay to be a prostitute."
And I was stunned and I said, "I'm a post --
preoperative transsexual and I had a paper with me signed by the clinic
what I was going through and I handed it to this one police officer. And
he said, "I don't care if you're a he, she or an it." then he took the
paper, looked at the paper and then he threw it down and he repeated it,
"I don't care if you're a he, she or an it."
How do you think I felt going there looking for
help? I was really not doing very well. They were badgering me, really
ridiculing me, whatever you want to call it.
Oh gosh. And they left. They walked out of the
room and they went, I assume, towards to where the dispatcher was. They
were gone for a good ten minutes. And I was sitting there panting. I was
kicked in the face. I had an injury. I had my hands behind my back and I
was crying and I could hardly breathe well and I heard laughter in the
other room. I got up, walked over to the door and looked around the corner
and one of the police officers came running back at me and he yelled, "Get
back into that room." So I did. I sat down again.
And then they told me I was going to be booked. A
booking officer came inside and he was a nice man because I talked to him,
I told him what was going on and he was really gracious about it with his
words.
I was injured, shaking, crying and breathing
oddly. He called for an ambulance. When I arrived at the hospital I wanted
to commit suicide. They asked me what I felt like. I said, "give me a gun,
I would kill myself" and that's the honest to God feeling I had and I
never, ever felt that way in my life.
A psychologist came to visit me about two hours
later and she questioned me and I was released a couple of hours later.
I had to go get my car out of impound and they put
it there.
Story Six...
I am here today to talk to you about the importance of adding gender
identity and gender expression to our current hate crime statute. Several
years ago I came out to myself and others as gay; today, I sit before you to
come out a second time as transgender. You might think to yourself, “funny,
she doesn’t look transgender, maybe gay, but not transgender.”
I guess I looked gay at an early age b/c when I was in Middle School a gang
of girls would follow me down the hall and sing “walk like a man, talk like
a man, act like a man my darling.” That song continues to reverberate in my
mind and haunts me to this day. There was another student who would walk by
my desk and whisper to me “you’re such a man.” It wasn’t until High School
when we learned the word “dyke” that my gender presentation became
associated with my sexual orientation.
When I was in elementary school, I did not know that I was gay. All I knew
was that I felt different and I could not explain it. All I knew was that I
didn’t like wearing dresses but that I would rather where khaki pants and a
button down shirt. I didn’t know what it meant to be a “dyke” or to be a
lesbian. All I knew was that I did not feel comfortable in my body and that
God had made a mistake because I was not where I belonged. For years I have
struggled with my gender identity. I thought that when I came out as gay
that I was done and that I could be happy, but that is not the case because
I realize that my gender identity has nothing to do with my sexual
orientation.
My struggle now is not about my sexual attraction to men or women, it is
about reconciling the fact that I do not feel comfortable with who I am
according to society. The problem is that there are many people out there
just like myself who do not want to have a sex change, but who identify as
transgender. One does not have to change their sex to be transgender. But
the point is that people are afraid of those who look different from them
selves. They do not understand why a woman would want to dress like or be a
man and why a man would want to dress like or be a woman. Differences scare
people, change scares people, and so does non-conformity. When a man walks
down the street dressed like a woman, carrying a purse and sporting a pair
of pumps, it frightens people. They think that person is a freak of nature,
and then they think he might be gay.
People are not threatened by him b/c of his sexuality but because of his
gender differences. For example, my girlfriend is feminine. She nicely fits
into the gender binary of being feminine for a woman. She looks like a girl,
and therefore she does not look gay. When she says that she went out with
her girlfriend to the movies, other women respond by saying, “yeah, I went
out with my girlfriends the other night too.” They do not realize that she
means girlfriend in the romantic relationship sense. She does not have to
deal with people giving her funny looks because she looks different. She
does not have to deal with harassment because she does not fit into a gender
box. She will never be a victim of a hate crime due to her gender identity
or expression because she dresses and acts the way society has told her
women should dress and act. This is why gender identity and gender
expression need to be added to the hate crime statue separately from sexual
orientation.
It’s not easy in our society to belong if you feel like your gender identity
does not match up with your God assigned sex. For years, I have been
tormented by others and by myself for being different. I went through bouts
of depression and still feel shameful and guilty because I feel like I just
do not belong anywhere. Maybe I’m not strong enough to change my sex like
others. Maybe I’m not wise enough to conform but continue to live in fear of
harassment and rejection. But, either way, I know that I do not deserve to
be harassed, discriminated or harmed because I am different. I deserve the
same respect as anyone else and that is why I implore you to please include
gender identity and gender expression in Connecticut’s hate crime statue.
Back to Top
Story Seven...
Although there is a CHRO law on the books that is
supposed to protect the Transgendered employees from workplace harassment
and wrongful dismissal, it appears that the employers with smaller numbers
of employees (predominantly home service/construction related, blue collar
work force related, school bus services, rural Police stations, and other
rural civil service) have failed to get the message. It's all well and good
that you have the right to bring these employers to accountability for their
actions by reporting the violation with the CHRO, but in reality the fines
are minimal for the employer. They have the tendency to just pay the
employee whatever the CHRO can negotiate and be done with the problem,
vowing never to hire a Transgendered employee again or just treat the next
Transgendered employee issue in their facility as they did the first. I feel
it is important that these companies be held to an ever increasing fine for
repeat claims involving Transgender employee mistreatment. That the
owner/CEO employer must attend a seminar on Understanding Transgendered
Issues. That the employer also be made liable for punitive damages involving
Pain and Suffering issues in addition to the lost wages issues (at present,
pain and suffering are not recognized in state court and need to be
addressed in federal court).
The best law is a law that keeps you protected and employed, not one that
forces you to go through mistreatment and have to look for a new job (with
less pay nonetheless).
Currently, the CHRO is handling a complaint of wrongful termination for me.
My employer chose to fire me two weeks after getting my SRS. He didn't even
bother to call me in and talk about this action. He simply did it by mail.
This was the thanks that I got for putting up with his crap for 8 years of
my life. As soon as he was assured that my assistant could do the job, I was
history. I fear that the only compensation I will get is six months wages,
less the Unemployment Comp I received. It will take me far longer than six
months to get the same job with comparable wages, and my good credit ratings
have been dashed on the rocks. In the last two years of employment, I went
through hell in his office.
Story Eight...
[Testimony provided in 2003] I
would like to thank the Chairs Senator Andrew McDonald and Representative
Michael Lawlor, Ranking members Senator John Kissel and Representative
Robert Farr and other members of the Judiciary Committee for allowing me to
speak in support of Raised Bill No. 6390.
My name is Jerimarie
Liesegang and I am speaking on behalf of the Connecticut TransAdvocacy
Coalition and myself. I have long been involved within the community, on
the leadership committee’s of a number of prominent Connecticut and National
organizations, spoken on many panels and events, as well as written
extensively on the issues facing the Trans-Identified community.
Transphobia
I am here to tell you
that Transphobia is Alive and Well! This is a horribly sad statement,
though I hope my testimony will provide some insight into the fear and
hatred our community routinely encounters.
From a personal
perspective, I encounter Transphobia routinely. Be it simple snickers and
mumbling comments to abusive, derogatory and threatening actions. Not
atypical, I have been physically threatened and assaulted. Two such
examples are:
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An 18-year-old Trans youth and I were
subjected, in a Connecticut Diner, to over fifteen minutes of abusive,
derogatory and threatening language and actions.
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My
prior partner and I were severely beaten, resulting in a broken nose and
numerous traumas to the body and face.
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From a national perspective,
transphobic hate crimes occur daily ranging from Class 3 to Class 1 Hate
Crimes resulting in severe injury or death; with many of these hate crimes
experienced by our youth. Our community suffers an average of 1.5 deaths a
month due to anti-transgender hate, bigotry and bias.
Reporting
And so, you may: Show me the
reports and statistics. In response, I would like to quote Roger Coggan,
LA’s Director of Legal Services and Public Policy:
“Crimes
against transgender people continue to be underreported. We’ve done
targeted outreach to the transgender community, which has resulted in a
doubling of the number of reported hate crimes, but we know that's just the
tip of the iceberg. Many transgender people are still afraid they are going
to be re-victimized by law enforcement and service providers. We need to
send the message that the transgender community is part of our community."
Examples of such
revictimization by law enforcement and service providers are:
|
Tyra
Hunter, a DC transwoman, denied life-saving medical care when rescuers
discovered she had male genitalia. For five minutes and without medical
care, Tyra was the butt of transphobic comments and actions by the
attending medical providers. The family was awarded a Million-dollar
wrongful death suit; while the firefighter found at fault in Tyra’s death
was promoted!
|
| JoLea Lamot had an
allergic reaction to some medication. NYC rescue workers and police
responded to the 911 call. When police discovered JoLea was a TransWoman
they began harassing her, calling her “it” and “trans-testicle.” They beat
her, sprayed her, her mother and a neighbor with pepper spray, handcuffed
her and forced her to stay in a psychiatric hospital overnight.
|
When my partner and I were
severely beaten in Miami I was directly asked: “Do I want Medical treatment
or to file a complaint”, I said No! Images of Tyra Hunter or the police
officers who have snickered at my being a transwoman passed through my
mind. Also I thought: would two transwomen be believed over two middle
class white men from Ohio? I was safer going back to my hotel to heal
rather than trust a society or a medical and legal system that marginalizes
the trans-identified person. I will always regret not reporting this crime,
though I will always remember my fear that still exists today!
And for these reasons, and
many more, my community and I implore you to pass this imperative and
progressive legislation. And if you say, this doesn’t occur in Connecticut
– You are wrong! it just nearly universally never gets reported, for reasons
I hope you understand. And if you say sexual orientation statutes protect
us, I can only say that such statements and thinking are what marginalizes
my community and its people, in the eyes of society, the law and the medical
systems. This is why passage of
this bill is imperative!
Back to Top
Select National
Stories
Story Nine ...
Assault with a Deadly Weapon and Discrimination by
Police/Paramedics
(This individual is a 30-year-old male-to-female
transsexual who is currently living as a male.) D.C. had recently moved to a new area in Chicago. Although
she describes herself as transsexual, she is not living full time, and only
occasionally goes out as a woman. At the time when this incident occurred, she was dressed as a woman,
and was going out by public transportation to visit a friend in her old neighborhood. She took a cab to the Loyola El (Thorndale/Granville
station) at about 2:00 a.m. on October 6, 1996. When the train arrived, it consisted of 2 cars, both
of which were packed, even at that time of early morning. Two young men in their late teens
or early twenties sat directly across from her. She noticed them because they were staring at
her and making rude comments. D.C. got off the train at the Berwyn station, and just
before the doors shut, the two young men jumped off as well. They pursued her down the stairs from
the tracks, and at the bottom they grabbed her by the shoulders, and began to drag her around
by her purse, saying "What are you, what are you?" She told them that she was a transsexual, a
drag queen, and told them to take her purse... anything to get them to leave her alone. They
said that they weren’t interested in her purse, that they would get to that later. She managed to
get away from them, losing her purse in the struggle, and she began to run away. She heard one or
two shots as she continued to run. It wasn’t until she was further down the block, maybe a
block away that she realized she was shot. She was able to run to her friend’s house, but by
then she had to crawl from the courtyard to the house. Her friend (or someone) called the police
and the paramedics.
The police and the paramedics arrived a few minutes apart.
Although she couldn’t see them, because she was lying face down on the ground, she heard
the police say over and over, "That’s not a woman, that’s a man." The police asked where she was
shot, and she replied that she was shot in the back. When asked how she got there, she
replied that she ran there from the El station. At that point, the police said, " If you can run
here, you can get up in the chair."
Neither the police nor the paramedics would help her up
into a stretcher. They did not even bring a stretcher over to her. With no assistance from the
police or paramedics, D.C.’s friends had to help her get up and into a chair. With no
assistance from the police or paramedics, her friends moved her the 30-80 feet to the stretcher and
helped her onto the stretcher. She was taken by ambulance to Edgewater Hospital, where she was in
the operating room for 5 hours repairing the internal damage.
Story Ten...
Aggravated Assault and Discrimination at Hospital
Emergency Room
I had just gotten off work at Rockwell and Leland in
Chicago, where I tended bar. I went home, changed real quickly into my femme clothes, put on some
make-up, and took the bus back to the same area. I went to a bar called Loafer’s at the corner
of Rockwell and Lawrence where I had two beers. I left Loafer’s and was heading back to the bar
where I worked. I had crossed Lawrence and was going down Rockwell when I was brutally
attacked from behind in a surprise attack. There were two men, one was really big, 6’2" or
6’3", and the other was a runt who was just there to act a as the look-out. I had seen them in
the bar (Loafer’s) that I had just come out of. They followed me from the bar and brutalized me on the
street.
They first broke my face with one mean blow. The big guy
pulled my head back by my hair, and slammed his fist down into my face, breaking the bone in
my face. Then he rammed my face into a pole a couple of time, smashing in the rest of my
face.
I was dead to the world, I mean I must have passed out. I
didn’t know what was happening. Luckily I must have been screaming because two people came
to my rescue and chased them away. They (the attackers) went back to Loafer’s. The
police found them at Loafer’s, drinking beer, where they arrested them for assault. Imagine, they
didn’t even think that they had done anything wrong, and went back to celebrate with a beer!
Eventually the ambulance came and took me to the hospital
(Swedish Covenant Hospital). I really had no problem until the hospital. I had major
facial damage and trauma, but at the emergency room it took them 4 hours before they would even
look at me. It was at least 4 hours before they took x-rays, and then they just sent me home.
They didn’t give me any treatment.
The only thing they gave me was the name of another doctor
to see. The next morning, I did see the doctor who was recommended
at the emergency room, who immediately sent me to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. At
Northwestern, the doctor saw me and scheduled surgery right away. I had to have my face
completely rebuilt. The doctor said that the bones in my face were so badly smashed that they
"looked like the bottom of a potato chip bag."
At this point, I still have to go through several more
surgeries before they will be able to finish reconstructing my face. I feel that I was discriminated
against at the (Swedish Covenant) hospital. The people who could have done the most for me
actually did the very least!
Story Eleven ...
Violence and Harassment
I am Intersexed. In my case basically I had the breasts; I had the ovaries and
I had the other thing and I went through hormonal changes just like any other woman went
through. Going back to the early days of grammar school, I was
discriminated against. Discrimination for how I acted, as far as my mannerisms, how I talked, my
attitude because it wasn't the same as other kids. There is just a stereotype of what a little
boy should act like and be and interests. When I was in high school many times I was called pansy, a
faggot, and a few times it resulted in getting in to a fight, when I would sooner run from a
fight than to stand there and fight. High school was very turmoil because as I grew up my body was
developing more as a woman and I was going through hormone changes and development;
physical development and it was very confusing to me and to a lot of the people that I was
friends with that noticed the different changes in and they couldn't understand it. When I was going to Nashville North, which is a country
and western bar, where I learned to line dance, I had harassment from the help there, I had
harassment from the people that went there, and as a matter of fact I learned later on that the people
there were not using the bathrooms because even though they never saw me not dressed as a
woman, they came up to the management and said, "We're not going to use the bathroom
as long as she's using it." I was appalled. You know, I just couldn't figure it out. I said,
"Wait a minute, this is the first I heard about it. Why don't they come up to me, to my face, and
have the decency to approach me and ask me, 'are you a woman or not?'" If they at least had
the courtesy, and the key word here is courtesy, if they had the courtesy and respect to show me
that, "Okay, there's a question in my mind," I would have told them. I would have said, "Yes,
I'm a woman. So if that makes it easier, now you can use the bathroom." I was raped a year, a year and a half ago. The guy that
raped me, his father was a police commissioner in Maywood. I was only three blocks away from
the police station in Elmhurst where I got raped and beaten up. It took them 6 minutes to
get the gas station where it happened. The ambulance was there before the police. When
they asked me what happened, I told them, "He ripped my clothes off. He tried to attack
me. A couple of people pulled him off."
My neck was so bad that they had to haul me off to the
ambulance on a board. And when I got to the hospital, they took pictures of the
bruises and everything. The nurses came in, asked what happened, and I told them what
happened. The cops came in and I kept telling them, "This guy ripped my clothes off. This guy
tried to attack me." It didn't phase them. It didn't phase them at all. They could care less. I sat
in that hospital room for three hours without no one from the rape place, they're supposed to
come down. With not even a sedative. I sat there like some piece of crap.
Then when the doctor came in, she didn't even look between
my legs. She just went with the Xrays and everything else. She ended up doing the examination
and I got discharged that day, that same night, as bad as my neck was. And I ended up
with permanent nerve damage.
When I got the copies of the medical reports, the medical
reports reflected the right pronoun as she and her, by the doctor's report reflected that this is
a 47 year old transsexual that was allegedly beaten up. When I confronted the hospital, they
didn't have an explanation. Now, this doctor did not even examine me, did not look between my
legs to see if I had a penis or not.
She just assumed that I was a transsexual because of my
height and everything. When I went back a couple of weeks later for follow up
treatments because of heart problems, that doctor asked my friends to leave, and then he
confronted me, with the heart monitor hooked up to my heart and everything, he came out and said,
"There seems to be a misunderstanding in your medical record here. Were you born with a penis? Are
you a guy?" And I said, "It doesn't matter what I am. I was beaten up and raped, and I came in
here for medical help, and you left me to sit there for three hours. You make an
assumption..." I got so mad, I pulled my panties down and I said, "Does that look like there's a dick
there?" He looks and his eyebrows raises, and he says, "No, it looks like you've always been a
woman." And I said, "Well get me out of this monitor, and get me out of this hospital, because I don't
want no part of you, and your bigotry and prejudice and insults.
It turned out that the guy that did the raping and all
that got 14 days preliminary jail sentence. That means very simply he can go to jail any time he wants
to serve the 14 days. And there was no mention of him tearing my clothes off.
Story Twelve ...
On June 20, 2000,
Amanda Milan, a 27-year-old transgender woman in New York was walking home
with friends when two men began to make lewd comments to her in front of
the Port Authority terminal. A witness heard one of the men, Dwayne McCuller, tell Milan, "I know what that is between your legs; you're
nothing but a man. I'm going to shoot you. … Get away from me, you
faggot." The other man, Eugene Celestine, handed a knife to McCuller who,
according to the district attorney's office, cut Milan's throat, killing
her. Witness said a group of cabdrivers cheered and applauded as the crime
was committed, and shouted transgender-phobic remarks. McCuller and
Celestine were charged with murder and face the possibility of life in
prison. At this writing, the case was ongoing. Police have declined to
classify this as a hate crime.
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