cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/22334414
Summary
Two transgender women, Dahlia and Jess, were attacked at a Minneapolis rail station, with onlookers cheering their assailants instead of helping.
After confronting a man yelling transphobic slurs, the situation escalated into a violent assault involving four or five others, leaving both women unconscious.
Advocates attribute the rise in anti-trans violence to emboldened transphobia fueled by misinformation and political rhetoric, including Donald Trump’s anti-LGBTQ+ policies.
The local trans community is responding with solidarity rallies, self-defense classes, and firearm training to prepare for a potential increase in attacks.
Police are investigating, but no arrests have been made.
Non-fatally shooting one or two among a group of men that’s got you down on the ground attacking you is not “rampant gun violence.”
The problem is not hypothetical, we’re discussing it as it just happened.
It’s important to de-escalate, you’re right. Owning a firearm comes with many responsibilities that you must uphold as a gun owner, and responsibly weilding the firearm (including and especially not using it as an excuse to threaten whomever you may) is one of them. But in this situation, it seems as though the men struck first, last, and hardest.
You’re right also, that they could have just ignored it. And, without video, there’s no way to tell how intense the initial conversation was. But do you think asking to not be called slurs on the train deserves a response in physical force? And do you think being beaten by a group with a 2:1 ratio on your own does not deserve a response in physical force?
I’m not suggesting “shooting up a train station,” I’m suggesting using a firearm to deter a group of men that are beating you.