Last night hundreds of protesters crowded the street outside a Baltimore McDonald's in a rally against anti-transgender violence. The event was spawned by last week's brutal attack against Chrissy Lee Polis, a local transwoman who was beaten by two female McDonald's patrons for daring to use the ladies room. Kevin Naff reports at Washington Blade:
“The turnout tonight is wonderful, I’m so happy,†said Renee Carr, Polis’s mother, who attended the rally with family and neighbors, but without her daughter. “I didn’t think that McDonald’s was a dangerous place, all she wanted to do was eat and use the bathroom.†In an interview with the Blade after the rally, Carr said she has always known her daughter was transgender and that she has supported her “100 percent.†“I even carried her pocketbook on the way to the bus stop as a kid,†Carr said, adding that Polis is doing better but was unable to attend. Others at the rally said Polis was afraid to leave her house. “I want to thank everyone personally who came tonight,†said Kathleen Hand, Polis’s grandmother, who also attended the rally, which was held in the McDonald’s parking lot in Rosedale, Md., where the beating took place. “Chrissy is doing great.â€
A candlelight vigil is scheduled to take place at the McDonald's at 6315 Kenwood Ave. in Rosedale, Baltimore, at 7 p.m. on Monday night where on April 18 a transgender woman was physically attacked, before appearing to have a seizure, in an incident recorded on a portable phone by a McDonald's employee.
The victim says she plans to sue McDonald's. Hate crime charges have not yet been filed against her attackers.
McDonald's has fired the staffer who laughed and offered no assistance as he filmed two patrons viciously beating a transgender woman at a Baltimore franchise location. Action is pending against other restaurant staffers.
"My first and foremost concern is with the victim," franchise owner Mitchell McPherson said in a statement, adding that action might be taken against other restaurant workers as well. "I'm as shocked and disturbed by this assault as anyone would be. The behavior displayed in the video is unfathomable and reprehensible." The video of a beating the Rosedale restaurant went viral Friday, garnering hundreds of thousands of views on websites and prompting the fast-food giant to issue a statement condemning the incident. The video shows two women — one of them a 14-year-old girl — repeatedly kicking and punching the 22-year-old victim in the head, as an employee and a patron try to intervene. Others can be heard laughing, and men are seen standing idly by. Toward the end of the video, one of the suspects lands a punishing blow to the victim's head, and she appears to have a seizure. A man's voice tells the women to run because police are coming.
The two attackers, ages 14 and 18, have been arrested. The younger may be charged as a juvenile. Police have not yet revealed whether hate crimes charges will be applied.
Baltimore police have made two arrests in the brutal attack on a transgender woman at a McDonald's, where staffers filmed the assault with their cell phones, then urged the assailants to flee before police arrived. The only person that appears to come to the victim's aid is an elderly female customer, although the restaurant's manager did attempt to pull the attackers away at one point. McDonald's has released the below statement.
"We are shocked by the video from a Baltimore franchised restaurant showing an assault. This incident is unacceptable, disturbing and troubling. McDonald’s strives to be a safe, welcoming environment for everyone who visits. Nothing is more important to us than the safety of customers and employees in our restaurants. We are working with the franchisee and the local authorities to investigate this matter."
The Smoking Gunhas more, including a tweet from a witness claiming that the attack began because the victim was in the ladies room.
UPDATE: Equality Maryland reacts via press release.
"A member of our community was recently the victim of senseless violence. Equality Maryland is saddened that in this day and age, bigotry and discrimination against transgender individuals continue, especially in our own backyard. No person ever deserves to be a victim of violence regardless of their gender identity or presentation. We encourage the State's Attorney General to investigate this as a gate crime based on gender identity. We are encouraged that McDonald's is working with local police to investigate this incident, and hope that the company will follow-up with appropriate disciplinary action against any employees involved. We remain committed to advancing gender identity protections for the entire state of Maryland and will continue to work with local organizations and legislators to advance these protections.:
Here's a lovely project in Maryland that just hit my in-box.
Pride Build Montgomery County aims to bring together the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and friends together to help build homes in partnership with families in need. Our hope is to provide an opportunity to better understand diversity by working to provide simple, decent, energy efficient and affordable housing to low-income families in Montgomery County. The Steering Committee for Pride Build includes prominent leaders in the LGBT community including: Bob Bernstein, Elizabeth Birch, Bill Briggs, Colleen Dermody, Randy Griffin, Tim McFeeley, Michael Meller, Jeffery Slavin, Pamela Strother and Bob Witeck.
Following a vicious campaign of lies by anti-gay Christianist groups, Maryland's gender identity anti-discrimination bill has died in the state Senate. Julie Bolcer reports at the Advocate:
Maryland senators voted on Monday to recommit the Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination to the judicial proceedings committee, effectively killing any prospects for the bill to pass this session, which ends at midnight. Shortly before 1 p.m. on the last day of session, senators voted 27 to 20 to recommit the bill to the panel, which had advanced the measure by a 7 to 4 vote on Saturday. The move leaves no time to resurrect the bill in 2011.
Among the tactics used to defeat the bill was the Not My Shower website, which claimed that heterosexual men in dresses would invade public locker rooms to molest little girls.
Last night hundreds of protesters crowded the street outside a Baltimore McDonald's in a rally against anti-transgender violence. The event was spawned by last week's brutal attack against Chrissy Lee Polis, a local transwoman who was beaten by two female McDonald's patrons for daring to use the ladies room. Kevin Naff reports at Washington Blade: 
