I would be remiss if I didn't mention Matthew Shepard today. Thirteen years ago, on the night of October 6th, at approximately this exact time in fact, Matthew was offered a ride home from the Fireside Bar in Laramie, Wyoming. Shortly thereafter, the two young men that were driving him home, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, tied Matthew to a fence and mercilessly beat him. They took the twenty dollars and the credit card he had from his pocket, and left him to die.
Matthew was found more than 18 hours later by a passing cyclist and admitted into the hospital after spending the previous night in near freezing temperatures. He was in a coma at the time he arrived at the hospital. He never regained consciousness. At 12:53AM on the morning of October 12th, he was pronounced dead.
While family and friends mourned his passing, Fred Phelps, and the members of Westboro Baptist Church protested Matthew's funeral.
The murder of Matthew Shepard became a catalyst for hate crimes legislation across the nation. His mother, Judy, quickly became one of the country's most vocal spokespersons for LGBT rights.
It wasn't until 11 years after Matthew's death that hate crimes legislation was adopted on a federal level on the basis of sexual orientation. The Matthew Shepard Act was signed into law by President Obama on October 28, 2009.
Matthew would be turning 35 on the first of December had he still been alive. So much has happened in the way of gay rights, just in the last few years, that it makes you wonder what Matthew may have been doing today. He could have been a father. He could have been married. He could have lived a life that seemed impossible for a young gay man in 1998 Wyoming.
For those of you that have seen the now viral video of Chrissy Lee Polis, getting beaten by two women outside a Baltimore area McDonald's ladies room, it's apparent that no one in the restaurant tried to save her. The manager made a vain attempt to break up the attack. Other employees can be heard laughing and practically cheering the assailants on. The employee that took the video even went so far as to tell the attackers to run, before the police showed up.
No one seemed to be on this young woman's side, except for Vicky L. Thoms. She is the lady in white that steps in at about the 2:00 mark to try to protect Ms. Polis. If you watch the video closely, you can even see Polis wrap her arm around Thoms' leg, in a desperate attempt to get away. But Thoms was out numbered and out matched. She was punched, "the way someone would punch a man", according to Thoms, and shoved to the ground.
"Interviewed in her home Monday by The Baltimore Sun, Thoms said she had stepped in because she feared the assault on Polis might be fatal. "I thought, 'They're going to kill her,' " Thoms recalled, stressing that she is not a heroine and would have helped anyone, despite her concern about aggravating a back injury. I couldn't take it any more," Thoms said, describing her horror as she watched the beating for about two minutes.
She also said she had no idea the victim was transgendered, but added that it would not have mattered. "It didn't matter if it was a pig laying there being beaten," she went on, tearfully.
"I still would have helped. I knew she was clinging on to her life. I just keep seeing it over and over again."
At 7PM Est. tonight, a candlelight vigil is scheduled to take place at the McDonald's location in Rosedale, MD, where Chrissy Lee Polis was savagely beaten on April 18th. The vigil, organized by a number of local equality, trans, and LGBT organizations, is meant to show support for not only Ms. Polis, but the transgendered community in the Baltimore area as a whole.
The vigil is being planned Trans-United, TransMaryland, the Baltimore County for Equality, the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of Baltimore and other allies.
“Our primary concern is for Ms. Polis’ well being. We will support her through this difficult time and we ask that the legal process be unhampered and thorough,” TransMaryland spokeswoman Jenna Fischetti says in a press release issued on April 24.
“This is precisely the kind of hatred and bigotry that transgender women and men deal with on a daily basis,” adds Caroline Temmerand of the GLCCB, the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland. “We as a society have failed if we cannot do more to protect all Marylanders from this kind of brutality.”
Based upon a large number of hateful comments that I have seen on local Baltimore news sites, I wouldn't be surprised to see some counter protesters, at what should otherwise be a peaceful event. When video of the vigil becomes available, I will have it posted on The Daily Twitch.
So far, Baltimore Police has charged one of the assailants, a 14 year old female, as a juvenile. Police are still trying to determine whether to try her as an adult saying, "We're looking at the proper place for her case to be". The prosecutor has not ruled out the filing of hate crime charges at this time.
The other woman involved, 18 year old Teonna Monae Brown, was arrested on a count of first degree assault and two counts of second degree assault for her role in the April 18th beating. She has extra charges against her for punching the 55 year old woman that tried to stop the attack.
Interestingly enough, she was arrested on July 27, 2010, for a fight with a man, that took place inside the same McDonald's location. The victim in that case dropped the charges, but refused to tell prosecutors why he wanted them dropped.
The District Attorney's office has said that no charges will be filed against Vernon Hackett, the asshole that filmed the attack on his cell phone and did nothing to stop the beating. The state of Maryland does not have any laws that impose punishment on someone that fail to help those that are being attacked. He did lose his job, though, and has had his name and image blasted across every television across the state labeling him as a douchebag.
In case you were wondering, Polis is planning on suing the McDonald's corporation for what some of their employees did that evening, but more importantly, what they didn't do. No one stepped in and helped her when she needed it most.
A 22 year old transgendered woman was severely beaten at a McDonald's location in Rosedale, Maryland, a Baltimore suburb on April 18th. She was using the ladies restroom, when two females, aged 14 and 18, dragged her out by her hair, and proceeded to beat her mercilessly. The attack went on for three minutes or more, while customers and employees of the restaurant stood back and watched. The manager feigned an attempt to break up the fight, while an elderly woman literally tried to get between one of the attackers and the victim.
To add insult to injury, an employee of the chain, 22 year old Vernon Hackett, recorded the hate crime on his cell phone, all the while yelling, "That's a fucking dude". By the end of the attack, the victim is shown in the doorway of the McDonald's entrance, having a seizure.
***The following video is NOT SAFE FOR WORK. It is very violent and may be disturbing to some viewers. It shows an individual getting beaten, almost to death, simply because of their sexual orientation.***
To make matters even worse, Mr. Hackett posted the following message on his Facebook page regarding the attack the following morning:
This is someone that has been working at this McDonald's location, according to sources, since September of 2009. Instead of helping someone in need, he taunted the victim and recorded them getting beaten while on duty. Then, he went home and publicly insulted the victim. At last check, he's still an employee of the company. Since posting this status update, he has deleted his Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube accounts. The video and status update were thankfully copied by other people before the pages were taken down.
Please go to an an online petition at Change.org, demanding that the employees that were working on the night of April 18th be held responsible for the beating of this woman. Most did nothing to help her. Some even encouraged the two young women that attacked her, and even told them to "Run, before the police get here". Conduct like this is unacceptable.
The 14 year old involved has been charged as a juvenile, and the 18 year old has charges pending against her. Equality Maryland is pushing for the women to be charged with hate crimes.
Update: Within the last hour, the San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that the woman has died (see update number 5) from her injuries.
Update #2:Fox News is reporting that the victim was not transgendered, but instead, a "male cross dresser". Of course, they are! First of all, I don't think the right wing homophobes at Fox News have ever even used the word "transgendered". They probably wouldn't know how to spell it if they tried. Secondly, they are basing that report on the Facebook post of the employee that took the video and incited the attackers. He should be charged as an accessory.
If you watch the clip again, and I hate to ask you to do so, at around the 1:00 mark, you can hear the victim say, "Where am I supposed to go, then?". In my mind, at least, that tells me that she's transgendered. In reality, it doesn't matter. Even if she was a "cross dresser" (dammit, I hate that term), if she identifies herself as a woman, she's a woman. End of story.
Update #3: Earlier this month, HB 235, Maryland's "Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Anti-discrimination" bill died in the state Senate. The bill was to have sweeping protections for transgendered individuals when it came to discrimination regarding employment, housing, and public accommodations. A key reason that the bill died was due to debate as to whether "public accommodations" would include the use of public restrooms. Many elected officials thought it would be too controversial to approve such a measure, and decided to indefinitely delay the bill. I wonder if the bill will likely come up for reconsideration now.
Update #4: According to the Baltimore Sun, Vernon Hackett, the McDonald's employee that videotaped the beating with his cellphone, and encouraged the attackers, "Police on their way. Y'all better get out of here.", has been fired:
"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."
Other employees can be heard in the video laughing and egging on the two assailants. As of Friday afternoon, Baltimore Police would not release the condition of the victim.
I would love to be a fly on the wall during Vernon's next job interview, when he's asked, "So, what made you leave McDonald's?".
Update #5: Finally, some good news emerging from this story, if that is even possible. Contrary to prior reports, Chrissy Lee Polis has not died from her injuries. In fact, she is out of the hospital. She completed a video interview for the Baltimore Sun, which can be seen below. In it, she harshly criticizes the employees of the McDonald's restaurant for standing by and doing nothing while she was getting beaten. She also says that, at the moment, she is afraid to leave her home. She would also like to meet the elderly woman that stepped in and tried to save her, so that she can thank her personally.
A new PSA debuted yesterday featuring Elton John, Ricky Martin, Wanda Sykes, Rachel Harris and Idina Menzel. It is for the Give A Damn campaign against hate crimes. Previous spots from the campaign have included celebrities such as Jason Mraz, Anna Paquin and Sharon Osbourne. For more information, go to wegiveadamn.org.
38, queer, poly, happily married punk and stay at home dad to my five-year-old, Elle. In June of 2009, I was diagnosed with Tourette's Syndrome, and PTSD a month later. I have been on disability since. In recent months, I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia,Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Sjogren's Syndrome, a Chiari malformation, small fiber neuropathy, Type 1 Diabetes, and have a massive benign cyst in my brain. And, to top it all off, I was diagnosed with lupus in March of 2014.
I haven't been writing as often as I would like to lately. Trying to catch up on some lost time. Please forgive me.
I'm an anarchist and an atheist. My political views are too far left to even be considered Democrat. I believe that marriage and health care are fundamental human rights. And don't get me started on people calling themselves "pro-life", and denying education and food stamps to children.
