Blind Prophecy

Fuck.

A 27-year-old local man was stabbed last night. According to the attorney of Omar Childress, the 19-year-old knife wielder, the assault took place when Childress arrived at the victim’s home expecting to meet a girl. Instead, he found the victim wearing a wig and a dress.

So, of course, the appropriate reaction to discovering your online hook-up is really a cross-dresser or transwoman (there’s not enough info in the article to be sure) is to grab a butcher knife and start lunging for the chest.

Although the victim is expected to survive the experience, his (or her) name and neighborhood have been published in the newspaper and he (or she) has been “outed” by the local press. Shame on the Cincinnati Enquirer for publishing the victim’s name and neighborhood.

Childress had his arraignment this morning. I’d bet money we’re about to get another round of the “trans panic defense” of innocence and hear a lot of really ugly things said about transgender people that (combined with other local stories) reinforce the idea that all queer folk are sexual predators.

When will we finally decide as a culture that someone’s gender identity or expression is never an excuse for violence?

Filed under: Cincinnati, queer rights by Jere Keys