A trans woman was beaten and stripped during a horrifying assault outside a bar in Palm Springs, California.
The victim, Skyy Perez, says the incident, which was caught on camera, occurred on the evening of July 29, when her phone was reportedly stolen inside The Village, a bar in downtown Palm Springs. Perez approached a nearby woman to check her bag, but security escorted Perez out of the bar.
Perez was then attacked in the alleyway by the woman she had accused of taking her phone.
“She hit me with a sandal in the back of my head, and I fell to the floor, I kind of lost consciousness,” Perez told Palm Springs ABC affiliate KESQ. “And then the other two girls that were with her came and they were like basically jumping me and tore my clothes. I was in disbelief and a rage that I got hit for simply existing.”
Perez, who had been stripped down to her undergarments, spat at the women, only to be sucker-punched by an unidentified man.
The clip of the assault is circulating on social media, with many of those sharing it mocking trans women.
KESQ obtained security video from a nearby business showing multiple people involved in a much longer dispute. During the altercation, one woman can be seen throwing Perez’s wig onto the second story of a parking structure.
Perez’s friend, Daniella Pinea, who was with her that night, claims she’s been traumatized by the experience.
“I haven’t slept, I can’t even eat sometimes. Because it’s very traumatic that we have to go through this,” Pineda said. “Those people were hating because we were trans. And they couldn’t just wrap their brains around us being able to live our lives out authentically.”
Palm Springs police have confirmed the incident and are investigating it as a hate crime. However, no suspects have been identified or arrests made in the case.
David Mariner, the general manager of The Village, lamented the attack.
“For this to happen near our establishment makes us truly upset as we strive to be a leader in forward-thinking,” Mariner said in a statement. “We are all-inclusive. We don’t stand for anything that is hateful.”
Trans people are four times more likely than cisgender people to be victims of violent crime, according to a 2021 analysis by the Williams Institute and published in the American Journal of Public Health. The analysis collected data on the gender identity and assigned sex at birth of crime victims, which was taken from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2017 and 2018 National Crime Victimization Survey.
Despite the brutal attack, Perez is determined to live her life openly as a trans woman.
“It’s gonna make me want to live my truth even more,” she said.
Watch KESQ’s coverage of the videotaped assault below:
Sacramento, California, has been designated a "sanctuary city" for transgender individuals.
Last week, the Sacramento City Council approved a resolution ensuring that city resources -- including law enforcement resources -- are not used to aid in out-of-state prosecutions of people who come to California seeking out gender-affirming mental health care, hormone therapy, or surgery.
The resolution prohibits city funds from being used to cooperate with any individuals or out-of-state agencies who are investigating people for pursuing treatments that are legal in California.
A California man was sentenced to five years in prison for attacking a gay fashion designer, in what prosecutors now acknowledge was a hate crime.
Jesus Rodolfo Zepeda was previously convicted of assaulting prominent fashion designer Pol' Atteu during a September 2019 charity fashion show at St. John's Cathedral in Los Angeles.
The event benefitted the Make-a-Wish Foundation and was featured in Atteu and his husband, Patrik Simpson's reality show, Gown and Out in Beverly Hills.
The attack landed Atteu in the hospital for two days with a concussion, a broken shoulder, bruises, and other injuries.
University of South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley grabbed headlines this past weekend when she weighed in on the side of allowing transgender athletes to participate in sports.
On April 6, the day before her Lady Gamecocks were to play in the NCAA Division I "March Madness" Tournament Championship game against Iowa, Staley -- who freely offers her opinion on any topic, regardless if her comments may offend some people -- was asked about her position on transgender athletes competing in women's sports.
The question came from Dan Zaksheske, a reporter for OutKick, a website with a strong conservative viewpoint that markets itself as an "everyman" alternative to mainstream sports news outlets.
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