Baltimore resident Adrian Leigh Cowan has started a petition against an online video depicting a brutal attack on transwoman, Chrissy Lee Polis.
He said “I was moved to start this petition because when I first viewed the video, I was brought to tears. How anyone could stand by and allow this to happen is unfathomable to me.”
The disturbing video has moved more than 100,000 people to sign the petition. It shows a 22 year old woman being pulled out of a McDonald’s bathroom and beaten by two customers. She is punched, knocked to the ground, dragged across the floor by her hair, and kicked in the face until she appears to experience a seizure.
The assault was filmed by a McDonalds employee while others cheer on the attackers. After the brutal incident, the video was posted on the internet, where an employee bragged that the assault was OK because the victim “was a man dressed like a woman.”
Unfortunately this attack is a grim example of the verbal and physical abuse transgendered people face on a regular basis. Brutal acts of violence are all too common and authorities are often slack in their response to them.
McDonalds does not currently have a policy to protect trans individuals but does have measures in place for gays and lesbians. While the fast food magnate does pledge to ‘take appropriate action’ against the event just one attacker has been punished.
300 people rallied outside the McDonalds last week to declare there solidarity with the victim. “This is truly an LGBT moment,” said Mary Washington, a lesbian member of Maryland’s House of Delegates.
To register your disgust sign the petition at change.org
