In First Interview Since McDonald’s Attack, Transgender Woman Speaks

Employee who filmed attack “is no longer employed with my organization,” says McDonald’s franchise owner.

A transgender woman, the victim of a brutal hate crime beating in a Baltimore area McDonald’s shown in a cell phone camera video that went viral across the Internet this weekend, has come forward and given an interview on camera to the press. In this video (below,) Chrissy Lee Polis, 22, talks about what actually happened in the McDonald’s restaurant, why her attackers beat her, and how she’s feeling.

The actual video of the hate crime beating in the Baltimore area McDonald’s can be seen here.

“They really hurt me really bad,” Polis says in this video. Polis adds she was already on her way out of the restroom when the two teenaged girls, one 14 and one 18, spit at her, then accosted her. One of the teens, Polis claims, accused her of talking to “my man,” and that was part of the reason for the attack.

 

 

“I’m just afraid to go outside now because of stuff like this,” says Polis, who adds “I want to cry, but I need to hold my head up.”

 

 

“I’m just afraid to go outside now because of stuff like this,” says Polis, but adds that “They just seemed like they wanted to pick a fight that night.”

Polis tells The Baltimore Sun, the violent attack, which the McDonald’s employees did nothing to stop, and were actually laughing about, is “definitely a hate crime.” Polis, who was kicked in the head repeatedly, and dragged across the floor by the two teenaged assailants, who stopped, left, and returned several times, was literally dragged from the back of the restaurant almost all the way to the front door by the two female teens.

READ: “Hate Crime: Young Transgender Woman Beaten Into Seizure At McDonald’s“

“Polis, who said she had a sex-change operation to become a woman, said this isn’t the first time that she’s been picked on physically because of her sexual identity,” writes Jill Rosen in The Baltimore Sun, who adds, “She said she’s been subjected to beatings and even sexual assaults.”

“She said seeing herself all over the Internet and all over the news has been “like walking out of the closet all over again.” Polis is concerned that the public attention could trigger more violence — and worries it could hurt her chances of getting a job. “I want to cry, but I need to hold my head up,” she said,” according to the report filed late Saturday night.

“Her twin brother, Matty Polis, who also lives in Baltimore, said it’s been painful to watch her have to endure these sorts of attacks.”

“My sister has gotten this her entire life,” Matty Polis said. “Being the way she is, she’s always had a hard time,” The Sun article says.

The employee who filmed attack “is no longer employed with my organization,” claims McDonald’s franchise owner, according to reports.

“When the case was first presented, none of those facts [that the victim is transgender] had been revealed to the police — which is why the charges were the way they were,” the state’s attorney for Baltimore County, Scott Shellenberger, told The Sun, contrary to reports in some media outlets and blogs that the state had only considered filing hate crime charges based on the racial elements of the case. “We can certainly revisit the motive for the attack and determine if we need to make additional charges,” Shellenberger says.

“This latest attack highlights the extraordinary level of violence and brutality that transgender people face in their everyday lives,” Michael Silverman, Executive Director of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund told The New Civil Rights Movement Saturday. “We call upon the authorities to fully investigate this attack as a hate crime, and hope that the victim will receive some measure of justice. On average, a transgender person is murdered every month in the United States. This violence is intolerable. We all must redouble our efforts to stop hate-motivated violence directed at transgender people.”

The three-minute video that has gone viral depicts the 22-year old transgender woman being kicked in the head repeatedly, and dragged across the floor by the two teenaged assailants. Once the attack stops, the woman rests against the wall, only to be kicked again. Then, as her attackers appear to be leaving, they return and continue the assault, literally dragging her from the back of the restaurant almost all the way to the front door. She has a seizure and convulsions as the beating continues.

Exactly one week before the hate crime beating, the Maryland Senate effectively killed the Gender Identity Non-Discrimination Bill, also known as HB 235, which would have protected transgender people in housing, banking, and employment. While the bill would have had no direct impact on this incident, the Maryland Senate sent Maryland citizens a strong message by killing the bill.

Bilerico has posted the actual police report. Change.org has a petition you can sign, “Demand that the employees on duty at McDonald’s be held responsible in the beating of a trans woman.”

 

http://baltimoresun.vid.trb.com/player/PaperVideoTest.swf