A personal account highlights the urgent need for self-defense training and awareness among transgender individuals, emphasizing the recurring threat of violence and the importance of personal safety in the face of societal challenges.
ago, I awoke to a text message from a friend. She wrote to me from the hospital, where she had stayed overnight with three young trans people who had been assaulted the evening before. My friend, an organizer in the trans community, had attended a Transgender Day of Remembrance event at Washington Square Park. It was on the way home from the event that the three I couldn’t imagine the shock and pain of these three young transgender people walking home, having just shared collective grief..
We light candles and share tight embraces in the cold while tears stream down our faces. Leaving this space in a solemn state, these folks must have thought about all the names they just heard, read out loud. Were they thinking they were going to be next? I would have, in their situation. And all this in Manhattan, a few blocks away from Stonewall Inn, where pride was born. I teach self-defense classes for trans people, and stories like these come up all the time. I always start with the same message:It’s not the advice people expect, but it’s the only advice that will better ensure people’s safety. This phrase is my decades of martial arts experience wrapped into one statement. It’s the Bruce Lee art of fighting without fighting. In a violent situation, adrenaline and pride can cause us to take on unnecessary risks. As trans people, we can’t depend on people to be on our side, especially in public.The people who come to my classes bring stories with them. With each story, I lose a part of myself, and a part of them stays with m
Transgender Safety Self-Defense Violence Awareness
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