A trans woman was beaten and stripped during a horrifying assault outside a bar in Palm Springs, California.
The victim, Skyy Perez, says the incident, which was caught on camera, occurred on the evening of July 29, when her phone was reportedly stolen inside The Village, a bar in downtown Palm Springs. Perez approached a nearby woman to check her bag, but security escorted Perez out of the bar.
Perez was then attacked in the alleyway by the woman she had accused of taking her phone.
“She hit me with a sandal in the back of my head, and I fell to the floor, I kind of lost consciousness,” Perez told Palm Springs ABC affiliate KESQ. “And then the other two girls that were with her came and they were like basically jumping me and tore my clothes. I was in disbelief and a rage that I got hit for simply existing.”
Perez, who had been stripped down to her undergarments, spat at the women, only to be sucker-punched by an unidentified man.
The clip of the assault is circulating on social media, with many of those sharing it mocking trans women.
KESQ obtained security video from a nearby business showing multiple people involved in a much longer dispute. During the altercation, one woman can be seen throwing Perez’s wig onto the second story of a parking structure.
Perez’s friend, Daniella Pinea, who was with her that night, claims she’s been traumatized by the experience.
“I haven’t slept, I can’t even eat sometimes. Because it’s very traumatic that we have to go through this,” Pineda said. “Those people were hating because we were trans. And they couldn’t just wrap their brains around us being able to live our lives out authentically.”
Palm Springs police have confirmed the incident and are investigating it as a hate crime. However, no suspects have been identified or arrests made in the case.
David Mariner, the general manager of The Village, lamented the attack.
“For this to happen near our establishment makes us truly upset as we strive to be a leader in forward-thinking,” Mariner said in a statement. “We are all-inclusive. We don’t stand for anything that is hateful.”
Trans people are four times more likely than cisgender people to be victims of violent crime, according to a 2021 analysis by the Williams Institute and published in the American Journal of Public Health. The analysis collected data on the gender identity and assigned sex at birth of crime victims, which was taken from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2017 and 2018 National Crime Victimization Survey.
Despite the brutal attack, Perez is determined to live her life openly as a trans woman.
“It’s gonna make me want to live my truth even more,” she said.
Watch KESQ’s coverage of the videotaped assault below:
A masked assailant threw a sharp rock through the front window of a gay couple's home in Northeast D.C., striking one of the men in the head.
The attack occurred last Friday in the city’s Kingman Park neighborhood, just as WorldPride weekend festivities were set to begin.
Surveillance video captured the assault. In the footage, a masked individual approaches the couple’s house -- decorated with rainbow Pride flags in the front yard -- and hurls a rock through the front window before fleeing. A cry can be heard from inside the home.
Chris Kostka, a gay man visiting Provincetown, Massachusetts, was walking along Bradford Street between 1 and 2 a.m. on Monday, June 30, when, near Howland Street at the town’s eastern end, three men shoved him to the pavement and began kicking him while yelling anti-gay slurs.
"All of a sudden I just feel myself getting pushed to the ground," Kostka told Boston NBC affiliate WBTS-CD. "I fly forward and I turn. I see three guys, and of course, I'm stunned from just being thrown to the pavement, and I just cover my face, go into a fetal position as I'm getting kicked and getting called some gay slurs."
A transgender athlete in California won two golds and a silver medal at the CIF State Track & Field Championships last weekend, but officially "tied" with other athletes due to a specialized scoring system instituted just ahead of the state meet.
AB Hernandez, a transgender girl who is a junior at Jurupa Valley High School in Riverside, California, placed first in the girls' high jump and triple jump competitions, and second in the girls' long jump competition.
Hernandez's participation sparked controversy and staunch opposition from some parents and bystanders, especially after President Donald Trump threatened to permanently withhold federal money from California if transgender athletes -- specifically Hernandez, although he did not refer to her by name -- were allowed to compete in female events.
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