4w ago

Crowd cheered as two transgender women were attacked in Minneapolis, advocates say

www.independent.co.uk Crowd cheered as two transgender women were attacked in Minneapolis, advocates say

The pair moved from Iowa to Minnesota last year under the 2023 ‘Trans Refuge’ law, according to a rally organizer

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.

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90 comments

I thought Minneapolis was one of the more enlightened places in the USA. But I guess they also have these violent bigots and murderous racist cops.
- Well George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis so it's not looking too great there
  
  Black people are (still) getting murdered by cops everywhere. What set Minneapolis apart was that they didn't stand by and watch, they did something about it. Sadly, that isn't what happened in this story.
- 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.
  
  Pepper spray has limited range and can affect the person using it. I recommend to those unable or unwilling to carry a firearm to carry a high powered flashlight to blind assailants.
  Bigger flashlights can be used as a club very easily, but i would recommend disengaging from the situation rather then standing and fighting. you should look for something small so you always have it on you.
  I don't know if the flashlight community is active here as it is on reddit (where I got the info to buy my flashight), but here it is: https://lemmy.world/c/flashlight
  
  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.
- I think you'll find the same in San Francisco, Portland, and New York.
  Shitheads everywhere.
- I thought Minneapolis was one of the more enlightened places in the USA.
  The sad part is... it is.
- This is not the first instance of transgender women getting attacked at MPLS public transit stations either. There was another such attack in the last few years at a MPLS bus station a couple miles south of my place.
- My take is Minnesota in general is very divided. There are some very cool people there but also some very horrible ones. The cool ones are winning but that doesn't mean they win every time or that it's inevitable that they win.
- Mass immigration from certain very "unenlightened" areas may have ruined that forever, and also brought in an ideology that is extremely hostile to LGBT people and liberal values.
  
  I live in mn, and unfortunately this was my first thought.
- Uh, George Floyd?
- It seems that after the George floydd protests across the nation, comprehensive police/justice system reform was prevented in most places. That's the 1% telling us the protests didn't go far enough.
  Go further.

90 comments