Around noon Monday, a group of roughly 30 people showed up at the Humboldt County courthouse wielding signs in support of Fortuna transgender teen Cora Woodard, the Times-Standard reported.
Woodard, a 16-year-old who is transitioning from male to female and who uses theu/them pronouns, told the T-S they were attacked by a neighbor on June 30. Woodard said they were playing Frisbee in the front yard with younger siblings when the neighbor approached and punched them in the arm, reportedly saying: “You disgust me. You were born a man, not a woman.”
Woodard reported the incident as a hate crime to the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office and said they intend to press charges, the Times-Standard reported. Meanwhile, supporters created a Facebook group called “Stand with Cora against hate!” It quickly grew to more than 700 members.
Word of Monday’s protest spread over social media, and Woodard told the NCJ they were pleased with event. “I felt good!” they said in a Facebook message. “Supported by my community and more confident about who I am.”
This article appears in ‘The Biggest Challenge’.
A statement of fact is not a “hate crime.”
Agreed that this is not a hate crime. What it is is an example of very poor human behavior and that is not something we should accept or condone.
Punching a 16 year old in the arm in their own yard certainly qualifies as poor behavior. However, the fact that such an action being done because of a disagreement on the victims view of their sexuality has just been confirmed by the US Supreme Court as discriminatory in other legal areas and will almost certainly be confirmed by the same court as a federal hate crime.
Yeah, I’m not a lawyer but I don’t think a hate crime can be more open and shut than coming onto someone else’s property to punch them while telling them they disgust you and bringing their gender at birth into the picture. If the person is a minor, I’d imagine that’s child abuse as well. Of course, I don’t have much trust in the legal system.