Summary
Two transgender women, Dahlia and Jess, were attacked at a Minneapolis rail station, with onlookers cheering their assailants instead of helping.
After confronting a man yelling transphobic slurs, the situation escalated into a violent assault involving four or five others, leaving both women unconscious.
Advocates attribute the rise in anti-trans violence to emboldened transphobia fueled by misinformation and political rhetoric, including Donald Trump’s anti-LGBTQ+ policies.
The local trans community is responding with solidarity rallies, self-defense classes, and firearm training to prepare for a potential increase in attacks.
Police are investigating, but no arrests have been made.
This is what worries me when my trans friends tell me they don’t want to carry a weapon. They often say they live in a safe city, that they don’t feel there’s any danger being “out” in public where they live. And then stories like this happen.
I don’t think there are safe cities anymore. We saw attacks against LGBT communities rise under Trump once already, and we’re already seeing them popping up again before he’s even back in office. I really wish more trans people were open to the idea of carrying something to protect themselves with; even a knife of pepper spray is better than nothing. Don’t go without a fight.
Everyone should carry pepper spray.
I thought about going to the gas station to get pizza for games night (don’t judge, we have no other decent pizza place) in girl clothes once. I didn’t even get out of my driveway before realizing how insanely awful that idea was without a gun in a quick draw holster.