Aeon Farr, a leader in the transgender community in Baltimore, speaks out.
On April 18, 22-year-old Chrissy Lee Polis entered a Baltimore McDonald’s to use the bathroom—and became the victim of a violent hate crime. The motive for the attack was that Polis, a transgendered woman, had used the female bathroom of the restaurant.
Kicked and punched repeatedly in the head and torso, dragged across the floor by her hair, earrings ripped out of her ears, Polis’ assailants ended their attack when she appeared to begin having a seizure on the floor of the dining area.
When asked what it was like to be transgendered in an interview for the Baltimore Sun after being released from the hospital, Polis said:
I’m an easy target to get a hold of … people should not be afraid to walk out their house [and wonder] ‘Am I going to get shot? Am I going to get run over? Am I going to get made fun of?’… I have been raped before, too, because of who I am.
Polis also added, through tears, that she was deeply concerned about whether she would be able to find a job after all of the publicity surrounding her gender identity.
Community responds
On April 25, Maryland LGBT groups, civil rights organizations, and members of Baltimore County’s Rosedale community came together to rally against anti-transgender bigotry and violence. Hundreds of people packed the parking lot of the Rosedale McDonalds where the attack took place.
Aeon Farr, a transgender activist in Baltimore, posted a video in which she called on the community to come out to the rally. In the appeal, she explained:
Stuff like this happens to girls like us and guys like us every day. Being a transgender and going to the bathroom, it can be a life or death decision. It could be a decision whether you’re going to jail or not, whether you’re going to go home and sleep in your bed or sleep in a jail cell. … As transgender, we don’t deserve to be treated as less than human. (See the full video at the top of this page.)
At the rally, Sandy Rawls, the founder and executive director of Trans-United, told the crowd:
When I saw this tape, I was appalled at what happened in this restaurant, but I’m no stranger to it because it happens all the time in the transgender community. This has to stop. … We are a community of human beings. Okay? We are your mothers, your fathers, your sisters, your brothers, your aunts, your uncles, your neighbors …
Jenna Fischetti, the Media Director of Trans Maryland, toldLiberation: “This is the kind of violence and intimidation our community faces every single day, and it has to end.”
Legal protections needed
The attack highlights in stark clarity the safety and civil rights issues transgender people face in Maryland.
In the weeks just prior to the attack, the Maryland House of Delegates considered HB 235, the Gender Identity Anti-discrimination Bill, before it was ultimately sent back to Judicial Proceedings Committee at the end of the session. The bill would have prohibited discrimination based on gender identify with regard to housing and employment, but left out language prohibiting discrimination by place of “public accommodations.”
“Public accommodations” in Maryland include: inns, hotels, motels, and other establishments that “provide lodging for transient guests”; restaurants, cafeterias, lunchrooms and other facilities selling food or beverage; movie theaters, concert halls, sports arenas, stadiums, other places of exhibition and entertainment; and retail establishments, operated by a public or private the session.
Many at the April 25 rally spoke about how the attack on Chrissy Lee Polis highlights the need for legal protections for the transgender community that include “public accommodations.” They vowed to fight to get HB 235 strengthened and passed, and to continue to put pressure on the Maryland politicians who cave in to pressure from reactionary groups.
Stand against anti-trans violence
As this attack makes clear, members of the transgender community are regularly victims of violence and denied equal treatment in public restaurants, hospitals, government offices and throughout society.
There have been some attempts by right-wing white supremacist organizations and media outlets to generate a racist response to this attack because the assailants in the case were Black and Chrissy Polis is white. All those who stand against anti-trans violence should reject any attempts to generate a racist response and work for unity amongst all oppressed peoples.
The ruling class and their political representatives have long employed discrimination and bigotry as a tool to divide the working class. It is only when working people recognize the unfounded nature of such bigotry and come together to fight for the rights of all people regardless of nationality, gender identity and expression, and sexual orientation that we can truly win a society that ensures equal rights for all people.
The Party for Socialism and Liberation stands with all transgendered people in their fight to stop violence and win full civil rights!
