Earlier this month, three trans women were beaten by a group of young men in Seattle's gay neighborhood. According to the county prosecutor's office, there's been at least four more group beatings since June 2024. In one case, strangers joined in.
It’s a bummer how the response to these sorts of stories always turns into “victims should be doing this or that,” because why the hell does someone need to learn how to be effectively violent in order to just goddamn exist in this world, but I have to admit this isn’t bad advice.
One other thing I would suggest trans women do is organize and travel with groups whenever possible. Because a) one armed person is still really vulnerable to being ambushed and subdued before they can do anything, if you have at least two people you can watch each other’s backs, b) finding the good people who live in your neighborhood and helping each other out is a lifehack for so so so many things (childcare, learning new recipes, home improvement, saving money by getting donated clothes and kids toys and stuff, etc.).
It’s a bummer how the response to these sorts of stories always turns into “victims should be doing this or that,” because why the hell does someone need to learn how to be effectively violent in order to just goddamn exist in this world, but I have to admit this isn’t bad advice.
One other thing I would suggest trans women do is organize and travel with groups whenever possible. Because a) one armed person is still really vulnerable to being ambushed and subdued before they can do anything, if you have at least two people you can watch each other’s backs, b) finding the good people who live in your neighborhood and helping each other out is a lifehack for so so so many things (childcare, learning new recipes, home improvement, saving money by getting donated clothes and kids toys and stuff, etc.).