‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing’
– Edmund Burke
Have Transgender Woman Been Forsaken By Society?
I was shocked and horrified as I read this report of a transgender woman being beaten in a Baltimore McDonalds (hate crime, Bilerico Project with video) . Two teenage girls viciously assaulted the 22 year old woman, even kicking and hitting her as she lay on the ground. I’m not sure whether to be outraged or heartbroken that two girls who are just 14 could express such physical vitriol against another human being. But their attack is only part of the reason I am angry and ashamed of our society right now.
Other patrons of the restaurant stood around watching during the assault, leaving just one employee and an elderly woman to attempt to break up the fight. Disgustingly enough, instead of helping, one of the men thought it best to film the whole event, and in the video you can hear other men laughing as the transgender woman is beaten to the point of a seizure.
It’s one thing for an individual to express hate and violence – we know there are tortured souls in our midst. But to stand around and watch and laugh while someone is being beaten is as good as being an accomplice to the crime. I’m sure any one of the men at the restaurant could have easily held the two teenage girls at bay. Yet they chose not to.
This is not the worst of it!
One would think that a hate crime perpetrated by two young girls while others looked on and laughed would be shameful enough, but that is not the part of the story that I mourn most. The video taken by that cowardly man was posted online and went viral across the Internet. Shame on him for being so heartless in his calm consideration of the aftermath. Shame on us for reveling in the violence of this hate crime.
Are we becoming the mindless watchers in Running Man who delight at seeing others killed and maimed? Have our hearts grown so cold that we can’t muster empathy from the comfort of our living room sofa?
I pray that we can find within ourselves care enough to weep at suffering and – at injustice – still muster enough outrage to change the world we live in. To the woman in the story, I’m sorry that you were put through such trauma, and pray that you can find strength to forgive and move on with your life – even though they, and we, do not deserve it.
I’m commenting on “a long way to go”. I love your comments, Venessa about this terrible incident that took place. When I read about it on the computer, I sat here and cried.
I know that we still have a VERY LONG WAY TO GO, but with sites on the computer such as CROSSDRESSER HEAVEN and all of the beautiful comments that you always make, I guess that I was hoping that possibly things were changing for the best.
I do believe that things ARE changing but slower than I had hoped for.
Please keep up your good work on Crossdresser Heaven and I’m possitive that you will make a very big contribution to the future change.
With love
Karen M. Harris
Thanks Karen,
I appreciate your kind words – It’s a long, tough road, but things are
changing, as more of us stand up to be counting.
Hugs and blessings,
Vanessa
I first read a little about this a about month ago but usually I don’t have a lot of time to read and comment on everything with working two jobs and going to school, so yesterday I spent a good couple hours reading everything on this encounter.
I have to say: After 24 hours, I’M STILL PISSED OFF!
I try everyday to see everyone as human beings the way I want to be thought of, but wild animals like these two girls who did this make me sick! I’m finding it very difficult to see these two girls as anything but animals that belong in a cage.
I watched several different peices parts of clips from this video, read various articles, and several forum responses.
It’s good to see how many people sympothize with Chrissy. I hope she gets enough money from suing McDonalds that she doesn’t need to worry about a job for a very long time.
That guy that filmed it is guilty of being an accomplice because of his attitude and warning the girls to leave before the police got there. If his attitude were the opposite and he were trying to film this for evidence, my attitude would be different. It is a good thing he filmed it just the same though. It’s how justice might be better served.
Did anyone else here sign the online petition to have charges filed against him? I found the petition and signed it.
I know I sound vengefull right now, but it’s too difficult to feel anything else.
We do have a long way to go but as more things like this happen, the closer we get. It’s sad to have to accept that every discriminated group of any kind through out history has had to fight to have the freedom to take their rightful places in society. There is another statistic I came across yesterday: In this country, another transgender gets murdered every month. I hear people saying transgenders and gays shouldn’t get any more special protection than any one else, but situations like these call for it when a specific group is targeted for violence just because of hate.
We do have a long way to go and a lot more to do.