Transgender Woman Shot in Possible Chicago Hate Crime
NBC 7 reported. She was on the 200 block of West Root Street when she was approached by an unknown gunman. He yelled homophobic slurs at the woman and ridiculed her woman for wearing a dress. "You're a disgrace," he allegedly yelled, before opening fire.The gunman shot the woman in her right forearm, inflicting what police called a "graze wound." Chicago police have described the attacker as "armed and dangerous."An increasingly bitter social debate is currently raging in the United States about the rights of transgender people, particularly relating to trans women's inclusion in women-only spaces.
This tense atmosphere has seen transgender people attacked in hate crimes and led to companies being boycotted by customers after they supported transgender rights.Just last month, a transgender wheelchair user was shot with a pellet gun as someone drove past him in the street in Pontiac, Michigan.
He told police that his attacker had shouted anti-LGBTQ+ abuse before opening fire.Regarding last week's incident in Chicago, Kellie Bartoli, spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department, told Newsweek in an email: "The offender then fled the scene in an unknown direction.
The victim sustained a graze wound to the right forearm and refused EMS on scene. No one is in custody and Area Detectives are investigating.
