Monday, October 23, 2017

Are We Safe?

Not only is the number of trans women murdered have increased this year (currently at 23) but violent attacks are also on the upswing around the world.
Britain Is No Longer Considered A Safe Part Of The World For Trans People To Live In
Huffington Post UK
By Ruth Hunt
October 19, 2017

Britain is no longer considered a safe part of the world for trans people to live in.

We know from recent Stonewall research just how bad things are if you are trying to get on with your life as a trans person in Britain today. In the last twelve months, two in five trans people have experienced a hate crime or incident.

Every day, trans people continue to be mocked, excluded, bullied and attacked, simply for existing.

But now, other countries are openly agreeing that Britain is an unsafe place for trans people.

Last month, a tribunal in New Zealand granted asylum to a trans woman from Britain on the basis that her life would be in danger if she returned here.
Is the media complicit in this up surge in violence?
Many mainstream media voices - from newspaper columnists to social media commentators - seem to have stepped up a gear over recent months in their attempts to make vile transphobia acceptable, questioning the right of trans people to even exist. This isn’t something that is open for debate. And giving the green light to these messages has devastating real-world consequences for trans people.
Meanwhile across the pond in New Jersey…
Man pleads not guilty in transgender pepper-spray attack in Asbury Park
Asbury Park Press
By Kathleen Hopkins and Jean Mikle
Published October 20, 2017

ASBURY PARK – A Scotch Plains man accused of pepper-spraying a transgender person on the eve of an anti-hate rally in the city smiled in court Friday as his attorney pleaded not guilty on his behalf to simple assault and petty disorderly conduct. 

Morris James May, 22, flashed smiles at a news camera throughout the brief proceeding before Muncipal Court Judge Daniel J. DiBenedetto, who set Nov. 30 as a trial date on the charges.

May’s attorney, Mark Gertner, said afterward that neither he nor his client wished to comment.
Now get this! The charges have been reduced,
Butler said the charges had been downgraded from aggravated assault and possession of a weapon, which are both indictable offenses.


Simple assault carries a maximum penalty of 60 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, and petty disorderly conduct carries a maximum penalty of 30 days in jail and a $500 fine, Butler said.
And he claims self-defense!
Karalik alleged  that on the eve of Asbury Park’s anti-hate rally, May and another man were harassing rally volunteers.

Contacted by the Asbury Park Press on Sept. 4, May claimed self-defense.
Get a load of the tee shirt he was wearing,
During the incident, May was wearing a shirt that read, “For those about to MAGA, we salute you,’’ emblazoned with a drawing of Pepe the Frog. MAGA, or Make America Great Again, was President Donald J. Trump’s 2016 campaign slogan.

No comments:

Post a Comment