Corporate, state and societal responsibility
Last week, a transgender woman was beaten by two teenagers in a McDonald’s in Baltimore County, Md. Police arrested Teonna Monae Brown, 18, and a 14-year-old girl for the incident, which was videotaped on a cellphone by a McDonald’s employee and later posted on the Internet.
The incident allegedly started after Chrissy Lee Polis, who turns 23 this week, attempted to use the women’s restroom.
This case has caught media and public attention for several reasons.
First is that it was caught on video. In the video, you can see the teens punching, kicking and dragging Polis from the restrooms to the front of the store.
Second, few intervene in the situation, with many employees standing around and watching; one even tells the girls they should leave because the police are coming.
Third, the incident comes just weeks after Maryland failed to pass a bill that would have added sexual orientation to its antidiscrimination law — lawmakers stripped out gender-identity protections earlier.
Unfortunately, beatings of transgender individuals are not uncommon, but they are rarely documented and posted for the world to see. And it’s not uncommon for people to stand around a fight, rooting for one person or another. But this fight seems entirely one-sided. In the video, Polis cradles her head and isn’t seen fighting back.
The females attacking her seem vicious and mean-spirited. For the bystanders, it’s a sport.
About 10 minutes into the attack, Polis started to have a seizure. In the video, she is lying on the floor with what appears to be little control over her limbs. Someone moves the trashcan away from her head so she doesn’t hit it.
On some level, McDonald’s has a degree of responsibility here. Its employees failed to assist her — which isn’t illegal in Maryland but contributed to the atmosphere that allowed the attack to happen, and to continue for as long as it did. It has a responsibility to remedy the situation, through training and community outreach.
The state certainly has a degree of responsibility here. If transgender individuals are facing violence like this, then almost certainly they are facing ongoing discrimination.
Finally, society certainly has a responsibility to protect its citizens, particularly those who are marginalized. Discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity is unacceptable, even less so in public accommodations, employment and housing.
There may be a few silver linings.
One, the police took the situation seriously and quickly arrested the suspects. In their report, the police refer to Polis by female pronouns.
Two, this will increase attention to the difficulties many transgender individuals face, and perhaps encourage LGBT people and allies to speak out and lawmakers to pass inclusive protections.