One More Saturday Night

As I type this, it’s Saturday night. My roomie made Hamburger Helper for our dinner. We both worked today.

It’s another Saturday night, just like the 51 others in a given year.

Its football season and Penn State won again. My high school, Spring Ford, won their football game last night. Tomorrow, the Philadelphia Phillies will close out their season, and go home.

At work today, I was misgendered twice. The first time was by a toddler. Her mother was mortified, and I turned that into a teaching moment. “People come in all shapes and sizes and colors, and that’s great! It would be boring if we all looked the same.”

Not ten minutes later, an older woman misgendered me. “Thank you SIR.” I glared at her.

Last weekend, the body of 17 year-old Ally Steinfeld of Texas County, Missouri was found. She’d been stabbed repeatedly, after first being poisoned. Her body was burned and some of the bones stuffed into a garbage bag, which was placed in a chicken coop near the murderer’s trailer.

Her eyes had been gouged out and her genitals stabbed repeatedly.

Three people were arrested for the murder, and a fourth was arrested as an accessory. No motive was given.

Sheriff James Sigman refused to label this a Hate Crime.

After all, gouging out eyes and stabling genitals is perfectly normal behavior. It’s not like they killed a human being right?

Last Friday, fourteen-year-old Kylie Perez was attacked by at least four students at East Side High School, Newark, NJ.

“And the girl was like, ‘oh, there’s the tranny! Two punches, like right here, and I fell. And when I fell, I felt like everybody was coming towards me. Everybody,” said Kylie. Kylie, who is transgender, and her mother, Lillian Richards, say bullies have made school life difficult for the last several years. Kylie transitioned in 6th grade. Newark police department has officially classified the attack as a bias incident, and notified the Essex County Prosecutor’s office. “But they say as far as they know, since Tuesday’s attack Newark school officials have yet to hold any anti-bullying program or intervention initiatives at East Side High School, to address what happened in that hallway.”

Why bother? Boys will be boys after all.

Not 24 hours after that attack, a gender fluid student Abel Cedeno, 18, snapped, and stabbed two boys who had been bullying him — killing one and leaving the other in critical condition.

The abuse heaped upon [him] was previously reported to officials at his Bronx high school without any response, said friend Savannah Hornbeck before the accused killer’s Thursday arraignment. “The kids were calling him a f—-t, calling him a s–c,” said Hornbeck, 34. “After it had been reported numerous times and there was no reaction from the school, Abel felt (there was) no other way out.

“Those two kids in the class, they hit him,” she said. “He said that they hit him in the face. He said it’s because he’s gay or bisexual.”. . .  McCree and Laboy were breaking pencils and tossing the broken pieces at Cedeno’s head before the accused killer attacked his tormentors, police said.

Abel Cedeno is being held without bail, and is on suicide watch. Of course, the dead accused bully was described by his family as “a good kid, very smart, very loving.”

Am I the only one seeing a disconnect here? Would a “good kid. . . very loving” torment another kid to the point of snapping?

But, boys will be boys right? Toughen up!

I was bullied as a child too. I was undersized and slightly effeminate. In my blue collar town, that meant open season. I understand why Cedeno did what he did.

People wonder why I’m always harping on about being misgendered. THIS is why. We are being tormented. We are dying by suicide.

We are being Murdered.

Ally Steinfeld was misgendered by the local newspapers. She couldn’t even get respect after such a horrific death.

And now, tonight, I sit at home. I am Horrified. I am Scared.

One more Saturday Night.

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Tags: bigotry, featured, hate, Identity, prejudice, Transgender

Category: Transgender Body & Soul