A 19-year old cis lesbian woman was beaten unconscious and robbed after she tried to use the women's restroom at a McDonald's in the US

TERFs will try to blame trans people for this.

They're already blaming black people for it because the perpetrator happened to be black
- "This never would've happened in my christian fascist dictatorship... The perpetrator should've been white!"
- Who is "they"?
Y'all Yankees spend more time complaining about TERFs than homophobes it seems
- Why do you think that is

Transphobia also hurts cisgender people.

I would know. I was hurt by it too. It doesn't involve bathrooms btw.

I'm not sure this had anything to do with transphobia. The attackers just sound homophobic; they probably saw her hair and don't know or care that the slur they picked isn't for girls. It's sad that she's going through this. Their girlfriends robbing them after they had been beaten down speaks volumes about what sort of people they are.
- It generally really sucks to be a victim of a hate crime.
oh yea it does, one of my family members was misgendered as a man when she went into the womans bathroom one time, eventhough she isnt, by an demographics that have a wierd reaction to asian people.
- The more stories about this I hear, the more I just question the reason why gender norms even exist. And I mean that in general.
  Like, what do you mean men shouldn't act flamboyant and vulnerable? What do you mean little girls should always be seen playing with Barbie dolls (or in the context of my country, Fulla dolls)? Growing up, I never understood why making this distinction beyond the biological and sexual stuff was even necessary. Aren't we all humans at the end of the day?
This looks more like homophobic cunts rather than transphobic cunts.
- The venn diagram is a near circle.
- I really should've read the article better. But both are really bad for society.
- These are all exactly the same people, if that's not clear.

But 'you can always tell'...

This was a homophobic hate crime, trans people weren't mentioned. The bigots actually guessed correctly in this case.
- Huh, it seems you're right.
- A fair point, I'll put my hands up that I didn't read the article before commenting, and made some assumptions based on the headline.

This woman will never feel safe using a public restroom again.

Not should anyone, in places like this! Yokes! Yikes, even!
That's their ultimate goal. Make women fearful and unwelcomed in public spaces. Hiding behind trans bigotry is just a win win in their eyes.

"This should have never happened just because I am the way I am, and it should have never happened just because I was just trying to use the bathroom. But I don’t want people to be scared to stand up for themselves because they think that someone will hurt them all the time,” she told LGBTQ Nation. “I want to be seen as someone that is strong because they tried to ruin my life, but instead, they ruined their own.”

How sure are we that she was attacked because she was perceived as trans? This could be a simple mugging.

EDIT- nevermind I actually read the article, this was a hate crime

It sounds like it was more of a general biggotry thing than Trans, specifically m

Awful, just awful.

Y'all, don't go anywhere without some means of self-defense. A pocket stun gun costs $20, or if you live in a country where they're banned, carry a pocket corkscrew with a foil cutter on the end.

Stun guns, while potentially being intimidating to a lone attacker, are surprisingly ineffective if actually used for defense.
Pepper spray, specifically the type that uses a stream instead of a fine mist, is far more effective at stopping an attack and giving an opportunity to escape.
I recommend POM pepper spray, personally. The smaller versions are 50 state legal.
- Yeah I've been hit by a few stun guns, but not the police kind. It hurts sure and it makes a scary noise, but if I were intent on violence they would not stop me.
- It's a good option, no doubt.
I have a slock, which is a lock on a piece of pantyhose. It can be untied and left in my bag and nobody will know what it is at an airport.
Two rolls of quarters are entirely legal to carry, and act as makeshift brass knuckles in a pinch. The additional mass will make you break your knuckles, but you'll be shattering their bones as well.
- Shattering your knuckles sounds like a bad idea, especially if your initial defense does not incapacitate your attacker, as it may render you unable to continue to fight back.
  As Despoticruin mentioned, a 'tactical' style flashlight or pen would be better options, and you can temporarily blind or disorient the attacker(s) with a flashlight as they close the distance.
  Should be mentioned any close-in physical defense like that should be a last resort tactic if you cannot escape, and in those situations, a defender would massively benefit from being physically fit and somewhat knowledgeable on how to fight, preferably from classes where you learn to both dish out and take a punch.
  Even then, those tools won't give you much of an edge if you're outnumbered. Pepper spray is still the best non-lethal option for areas that allow you to carry it.
- If you go this route then hammer, don't punch. I hear that those small steel flashlights with the castellated heads are perfect for exactly that kind of swing.
- Fitspacks are always a bad idea. If you want something legal to carry, start keeping your keys on a locking carbiner rated for rock climbing. If it has a kilonewton (kN) rating stamped in it, it is suitable. This won't collapse on your hand and no amount of force any human is capable of generating will break it, but anyone whose nose you drive it into at maximum effort is likely to remember the experience. This should also be legal to carry anywhere.
- Definitely not a bad way to go in a pinch.

This is more common still for trans people who are earlier on in their transition but the media doesn't talk about it. This violence was intended for a trans person so why do people only care when it impacts the cis? This ultimately says that violence towards trans people is ok but that it is a problem when those who aren't trans are impacted.

This is more common still for trans people
Not sure about this. There's way much more cis women that trans women, so attacks on "trans women" could have more cis women victims just because of the number if cis vs trans women.
- Purely as numbers, this isn't crazy, but since the size of affected demographics is so different, you have to look at proportions rather than just figures
This violence was intended for a trans person
Did you read the article?
When she confirmed that she was indeed a lesbian woman, one of the individuals hit her
So, no.
And I've see n similar reports that did indeed involve trans people so... also no.
- I dont understand why she engaged at all or what was to gain by sharing she was lesbian.
This ultimately says that violence towards trans people is ok but that it is a problem when those who aren't trans are impacted.
For the people you want to reach with these kinds of stories, it is. I don't think there's much use in preaching to the choir.
I see your point totally... the main people that are suffering are trans and that matters. This headline hopefully brings awareness to cis people, and maybe even make anti trans people think "hang on, there's a risk to ME". But it does miss that trans people are at horrible risk in so many ways

cis lesbian

I guess I don't know what cis means. Pretty sure I'm clear on lesbian, but I guess you never know.

A trans woman who's attracted to other women would be a trans lesbian, if that's what was tripping you up.
Cis = cisgender = she was assigned female at birth and is not transgender
- Nice. I appreciate the simple explanation. And fuck this place for downvoting people looking for explanations. Just lemmy flavoured reddit dickheads.
Cis is short for cisgender. It's the antonym of transgender. Has nothing to do with sexuality.
Cis-het would be cisgender, heterosexual.
Trans comes from "on the other side" as cis comes from "on the same side".
I think a lot of people don't. The word 'cis' seems to have been invented because some people object to the term biologically-female or biologically-male, but that's generally what it means.
- Cis and trans have existed since Ancient Rome was a thing
- To add, cisgender is not that new of a word, it's been around since the 90s in English. Using the term "biological male/female" is an immidate red flag as it carries with it the insinuation that trans identities are not ligitimate; you could just say "not trans." Hence the heavy use by right wingers and bigots.