Saturday, April 23, 2011

In Baltimore: A Transgender Woman Beaten in McDonald’s


I heard about this yesterday and could not believe this happened. A transgender woman was attacked in McDonald's just for using the restroom.

Smoking Gun has more of the story.
The April 18 assault, seen below, took place at a McDonald’s location on Kenwood Avenue in Rosedale, Maryland, a Baltimore suburb. According to the Baltimore County Police Department, a 14-year-old girl has been charged as a juvenile in connection with the assault, while charges are pending against an 18-year-old woman. “The incident remains under investigation and the State’s Attorney’s Office is reviewing the case,” added investigators.

Police said the assault victim "appeared to be having a seizure" when officers arrived at the McDonald's at around 8 PM. The victim suffered cuts to the mouth and face during the attack and was transported by medics to Franklin Square Hospital for treatment, according to a police report.

The police report identifies the victim as 22-year-old Chrissy Lee Polis, who appears identical to Christopher Lee Polis, whose rap sheet includes convictions for disorderly conduct, property destruction, and prostitution, according to court records. The civil rights group Equality Maryland has identified the McDonald’s victim as a transgender woman.

Polis told police that she was walking to the restaurant’s bathroom when she “got into a verbal argument with two black females” who “began punching her in the face with their fists and pulling her hair.” A female bystander told cops that when she tried to break up the fight, the suspects punched her in the face, which “caused her to become disoriented.” Police noted that the woman, who declined medical treatment, had “redness around her right eye which is consistent with someone punching her in the face.” 
The video is rough to watch

The employees should have done more to stop this. Some of them pointed and laugh, which is completely unacceptable.

I hope Chrissy gets the help she needs and those girls get serious counseling and some type of punishment.

5 comments:

EMikeGarcia said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Part of the problem is that we in this country have been trained NOT to get involved.

I must have missed that lesson. So too Keyron.

Unknown said...

This is awful. A couple of men standing around doing nothing to stop this, yet an old lady is the one to try to put an end to it. Looks like they only tried to summon help when the victim was having a seizure. I get so disillusioned with people sometimes. At least the whole incident has been captured on tape. McDonald's - I'm not lovin' it.

Anonymous said...

This transgender thing is still a little creepy to me too. What's a tranvestite then?

WilsonW said...

@Lucifer-I hope you are not saying that because it's somewhat creepy to you, the beating was justified.

I don't know what your sexuality may or may not be. But as minorities who are seeking the compassion and tolerance of others. In my opinion, we are then obligated to give that same compassion and tolerance in return. It saddens me when people who are oppressed turn and do it to others. We of all people should know better. (I'm speaking generally. I don't know your situation.)

We don't have to understand, just relate and try to educate ourselves the same way we would hope others would do for us. I guarantee you most straight people find being gay pretty darn creepy too.

A transvestite is generally the same as a cross dresser. Meaning that most often it's a heterosexual male that enjoys dressing in women's clothing. Not neccesarily for sexual purposes but generally, yes.

A drag queen is a gay male who dresses as the opposite gender for entertainment purposes. They generally do not dress this way when not working professionally nor do they want to actually be the opposite sex. You will see conflicts among drag queens if one chooses to undergo surgical enhancement. The reason being this is considered being transgendered rather than drag.

A transgender person, is a person who feels that their physical gender does not match their inner one. This person may pursue living and working as the opposite sex. This includes but is not limited to undergoing surgical and chemical means to alter their gender. This is an indication of that persons gender and not their sexuality. You can have straight and gay transgender people. Example, you can have a straight male that wants to be a woman and upon doing so continues to have relationships with women just now as a lesbian. As a male they were straight, as a female they are lesbian.

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Viktor is a small town southern boy living in Los Angeles. You can find him on Twitter, writing about pop culture, politics, and comics. He’s the creator of the graphic novel StrangeLore and currently getting back into screenwriting.