Thirteen years ago
First time carded
Wasn't racism
Rather transphobia.
Police officer accused me
Break-and-entering
A lie - both knew it.
Like a bully
Invaded my personal space
Aggressively.
Minutes from
My basement apartment
And safety.
For my tired
And hungry body
Finished 10 hour shift.
Add 3 hours
If buses running on-time
On 2 transit systems
Round trip commute.
Quickly and quietly
Followed instructions
To avoid escalation
Feared being assaulted.
Biggest mistake
Showing transit transfer
Triggered a switch
Personal verbal attack.
Tried and failed
Too tired/shocked
For angry response.
Seemed like forever
He was assaulting me
Stepping out of time.
In reality
Only 3-4 minutes
Elapsed.
Before walking back
To his police cruiser
And drove away.
In a mental fog
Took those last few steps
To my basement apartment.
Wondering
WTH happened
Just now.
As the apartment door
Closes behind me
For that night.
Therisa © 2019
Author’s note: For those wondering, I didn’t report this police officer to his superiors, as I didn’t have his badge number or name, to use. Secondly, I doubt that his superiors would have done anything, give Peel Regional Police have a rather tarnished record, for its interactions with minority communities, in Peel Region.
Let’s put it this way: there are no special allowances for LGBTQ+ people, when they have to enter the local shelter systems, or support programs, back then. But that has changed over the past 5 years, with a PFLAG office opening up, with related supportive programs for the region.
2 comments:
It must be a lovely freaking world for those who have so much privilege that they could hear about something like this happening and discuss it in detached terms with others, as if it was simple a mental exercise. I've seen people dismissive about the indignities trans people have to suffer, and not understanding how all those dismissals set the stage for truly horrible things to happen. That night you described could have ended up so much worse!
I don't know what it will take for people to respect their fellow human beings. The PFLAG program is a promising start, but there is such a long way to go.
I recently heard some stupid woman, in a podcast, say that transgender people are just confused. And if that wasn't enough, the heap of dung pretending to be a person also said that transgender people make the real issues of gay people more complicated, she went on to add that transgender people have it too easy (she was talking about sports for this one). I was so mad (and yelling at the radio so loudly) that people were looking at me funny. I will never understand the stupidity of people who act like the police office you mentioned. And I can certainly understand your apprehension back then. Last night, I watched a gay person be part of a presidential debate. The night before, a different presidential candidate said that part of his agenda is to fight for LGBT human rights, that of transgenders in particular. The system still sucks, and some people suck even more, but... we are making progress. And we'll continue pushing (and kicking, too).
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