The community came together Sunday to support two transgender women who say they were attacked near a light rail station in Minneapolis.

The incident happened Nov. 10 at Hennepin Avenue and Fifth Street in downtown Minneapolis. It’s where community members gathered for a rally Sunday afternoon, one week since the attack.

Amber Muhm, a community leader with Trans Movement for Liberation, said the two trans women were attacked by a group of men at the light rail station after one of the men used transphobic slurs.

“No one came to help them. In fact, they said people were cheering the attackers on while they were getting beaten,” Muhm said.

    • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      10
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      8 hours ago

      A very-nearly-battleground blue state with a significant number of angry redneck in the out state areas that blame MSP for all their troubles. (Like lacking the ability to read…)

      In any case… yes it’s absolutely going to get ugly out there.

  • SolarMonkey@slrpnk.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    28
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    16 hours ago

    I’m not trans, and am fairly fem-presenting, but I’ve been accused of being a man several times since this whole bigotry thing really took off… mostly because I don’t perform femininity particularly well (deep natural voice, no makeup, comfortable clothes, never interested in men hitting on me and not afraid to say so), because it’s all bullshit I don’t care about.

    As a result, I’ve more or less stopped going out since I live in a very red area (of an otherwise purple state)… I’m a small woman with disabilities, I’m not confident of my ability to protect myself against large bigoted men (who are thus far the only problem I’ve had).

    Now that it’s further ramping up, I’ll just stay home at all times. That surely won’t have consequences. I can only imagine what trans people are dealing with with this stuff. My heart goes out to you.

    • Kalysta@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      9
      ·
      11 hours ago

      Minneapolis is a transgender haven though in a state with some of the best pro trans laws on the books.

      They were bold enough to do it there. They’re bold enough to do it anywhere.

      • Grilipper54@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        11 hours ago

        This specific transit spot along with one on lake street is known to get pretty chaotic. There was another attack on a trans individual a year ago I believe at one of the lake street stops.

        It doesn’t really have anything with being bold to do this in Minneapolis, this is known to be a light rail stop/intersection to avoid if possible.

    • megabat@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      edit-2
      11 hours ago

      FYI: In MN you have a duty to retreat if you can before you can legally defend yourself. It’s very likely these women would be in jail if they had shot their assailants after confronting them. Unfortunately in MN you can’t claim self defense after confronting someone when you could have retreated. Very sad situation all around.

      After overhearing a group making derogatory remarks toward them at the station at Hennepin Avenue and Fifth Street in downtown Minneapolis, the pair “confronted” the group, which led to a “physical altercation,” Minneapolis Police told The Independent a statement.

      Edit to add a link

      https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/transgender-women-attacked-minneapolis-rail-station-b2649250.html

      • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        9
        ·
        8 hours ago

        Not really. You only have a duty to retreat if a reasonable person would feel they could do so safely.

        Once an angry mob is surrounding you, you don’t have to make the attempt.

        That said…. Taking up running will ALWAYS be more likely to save your ass than taking up shooting. Even more useful is learning to maintain (reasonable) situational awareness. Avoiding fights winds every time, hands down.

  • treefrog@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    70
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    19 hours ago

    Hate crimes went up 20% during Trump’s last term. I suspect the bigots will be even bolder this round.

    Stay safe comrades.

      • treefrog@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        12
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        18 hours ago

        And they likely imagine Trump will pardon them. And that Trump supporting police won’t investigate, which is hopefully not what’s happening here. Though I fear it is.

  • Chozo@fedia.io
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    48
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    20 hours ago

    We’ve got four more years of these bigots being emboldened. I expect that these sorts of attacks are going to become a lot more commonplace, and for there to be little-to-no repercussions. Start arming yourselves.

  • PugJesus@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    48
    ·
    22 hours ago

    Buckle up folks, and be sure to stand up for any trans folk you know or see. It’s gonna be a rough couple of years for the trans community.

    • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      10 hours ago

      And be sure to encourage those in your life to empathize with us. Bigots are attempting to dehumanize and other us, to make us into monsters and freaks, when someone understands us as just people, neighbors, friends, family… then the virulent hate becomes seen as shameful. It disemboldens them

      • treefrog@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        12
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        19 hours ago

        You know that song was written for her lesbian sister right? In the '80s.

          • treefrog@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            15 hours ago

            Thanks I stand corrected on that.

            The song is still an expression of solidarity for gay people though. And Cindy has a long history of expressing that solidarity, because her sister is a lesbian.

            • die444die@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              12 hours ago

              I do agree with you on that, it’s a very meaningful song for me, and I do believe that Cyndi very well may have had her sister in mind when she recorded it.

              • treefrog@lemm.ee
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                edit-2
                11 hours ago

                It looks like she had a friend in mind that was a victim of the AIDS epidemic.

                And now I’m crying.

                Cyndi helped me crack my egg. I loved her as a child, and even more deeply now as an adult.

                So her music means a lot to me too