Punched, Brutalized, Spit On: ‘Transgender Day of Visibility’ Leads to International Violence

Angry transgender activists surrounded a Canadian conservative and punched his throat; in America, LGBT demonstrators physically or verbally harassed conservative counter-protesters; and two Christian schools canceled classes due to violent threats issued in the shadow of a mass murder. These scenes of mayhem played out as a spate of violence, intimidation, and threats spanning at least two countries marked the annual “Transgender Day of Visibility” held each March 31 by and on behalf of those who identify as members of the opposite sex.

In Vancouver, men dressed as women swarmed Chris Elston, a conservative activist known as “Billboard Chris” for the pro-children’s rights placards he wears, flashing Elston the middle finger while chanting, “F--- you!” When Elston raised his phone to capture the perpetrators on video, he brushed against a man dressed as woman who punched Elston in the throat, grabbed the back of his head, and hurled him to the ground. A female officer later told Elston the altercation “seemed like a consensual fight,” and a male law enforcement officer accused him of “looking to be confrontational with me,” because he refused to stop recording his interaction with police.

The Vancouver Police Department later announced that it had launched an investigation into the incident. “Police believe at least two people were assaulted,” the department noted in an appeal to eyewitnesses.

In the United States, comedian Alex Stein had coffee thrown on him during a rally in New York City’s Union Square on Friday, shortly after he voiced his opposition to cross-hormone injections and body-altering surgeries for minors. “Children cannot consent!” Stein told a crowd of LGBT activists, who promptly surrounded him, grabbing his phone and stealing his hat. Video shows one of them throwing coffee on Stein.

“They throw water on me. They assault me. You got the cops here — they don’t do anything about it,” Stein told the camera, which captured someone in the surrounding mass of humanity spit on him. “They just literally spit on me,” Stein continued.

On the West Coast, members of the radical group Trans Rights Activists (TRA) congregated at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue in Los Angeles on Friday, blocking passing cars and chanting, “Whose streets? Our streets!” Conservative activist Storm Robinson described being surrounded, “shoved and shoulder checked several times by several different ANTIFA members.” He also identified one potential leader as Jasmine “Abdulluah” Richards, who told Robinson she was affiliated with Black Lives Matter. Richards served 90 days in jail after being convicted of felony lynching in 2016.

Between the two coasts, two Christian schools in the same town — Resurrection Christian School and Loveland Classical Schools in Loveland, Colorado — canceled classes Friday after receiving multiple threats.

“Early this morning, LCS and a number of other schools in the region received anonymous tips via the State’s Safe2Tell program, which is designed as a way for students, parents, and community members to notify schools of possible concerns to student safety or threats impacting schools,” said Loveland Classical Schools executive director Ian Stout on Facebook. “Given external variables and the short timeframe, we opted for the safest course of action for our students, teachers, and staff.”

The alerts came less than a week after a 28-year-old woman who identified as a man murdered six people, including three young children, inside a Christian school in Nashville. At least one group of transgender activists had redubbed the day the “Transgender Day of Vengeance” despite the mass shooting. “Hate has consequences,” stated the Trans Resistance Network about the Nashville Covenant School massacre. Mass murderer Audrey Hale “felt [s]he had no other effective way to be seen than to lash out by taking the life of others.”

Loveland Police Department later verified the reports of potential anti-Christian violence. “We have received two Safe2Tell threats against Christian schools today,” an officer told the Loveland Herald-Reporter. “We take all threats seriously and are taking extra safety precautions and measures to enhance our presence in and around schools throughout Loveland.”

Stout later ascertained the report did not qualify as “a valid or substantiated threat,” adding that the original comments had not been “directed at LCS specifically with clear intent.” Still, “if the LCS administration is not able to verify 100% that we are safe given the information available to us, we will make the overly-cautious decision regarding the status of school for the safety of our students, staff, and entire community.”

Despite killings and future threats of violence, President Joe Biden issued two statements celebrating this year’s “Transgender Day of Visibility,” proclaiming, “Transgender Americans shape our [n]ation’s soul.”

A potent source of violence against the LGBT community is the LGBT community, conservatives point out. “The dirty little secret is that trans people are the ones victimizing each other,” said Catholic League President Bill Donohue.

The Williams Institute, an LGBTQ think tank based at UCLA, took note of studies showing high rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) or intimate partner sexual abuse (IPSA) among people who identify as transgender. A total of “31.1% of transgender people and 20.4% of cisgender people had ever experienced IPV or dating violence,” said the institute, showing that people who identify as the opposite sex are 50% more likely to be abused by their loved ones.

“Findings of lifetime IPV among transgender people from purposive studies range from 31.1% to 50.0%,” the institute continued. “Three studies provided findings of lifetime IPSA prevalence among transgender people, which range from 25.0% to 47.0%.”

“We know one thing for sure,” said Donohue. “It is not white, heterosexual Christian men who are roaming the streets looking for trans people to beat up — it is trans people who are committing the lion’s share of the violence.”