this weekend

tw: transphobia

this weekend, i was the victim of a hate crime.

i was walking through my local park when i overheard a bunch of guys talking about me, saying “that’s a bloke isn’t it” and talking about throwing beer on me, before proceeding to start throwing pebbles at me as i quickly walked away.

this happened in the middle of the day, on a busy weekend with many people around. no one stepped in. no one asked if i was ok. i took a different route home.

the experience was extremely dehumanising, that people thought they were justified at throwing stones at the funny looking tranny in the street. for just happening to walk past them. for literally just existing. how cruel and twisted do you have to be to think that this is an acceptable and okay thing to do? what kind of society not only tolerates this behaviour but actively encourages the dehumanisation and vilification of trans people in their own communities?

the blame does not squarely lie with the men who threw stones at the random trans woman. the state and the media continually push lies and encourage the demonisation of trans people, painting us as an enemy, an issue for society. these people enable this kind of abuse and violence towards us.

i’ll be spending more time and effort on local community and safety this year. i think we need to focus more on self defence and being able to fight back when cornered. because on that day, i genuinely felt helpless and scared and worried about what was coming next. i shudder to think what would have happened in a quieter environment and if i wasn’t able to get away.

above all. never let the fuckers see you bleed.