In so far as is possible...

[catsittingstill]

Angie Zapata has justice.

For those who haven't been following this story, Angie Zapata was a transgender teen, murdered for being transgender.  Lawyers for her assailant, Allen Andrade, claimed that he had freaked out in "trans-panic" on discovering that she had been born male, and beat her to death, first with his fists and then with a fire extinguisher, in the grip of that panic.

As if freaking out is a perfectly natural response to discovering that someone is trans.

Fortunately the jury got it. 

Comments

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

We'll see. Hopefully it sets a precedent of treating trans people as people.

Reports that the defense kept referring to Angie as "he" and as "Justin" throughout the trial really annoyed me.

I guess part of that is that bullies used to call me names that weren't mine, so it feels to me like those jerks were trying to bully the dead woman.

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that was just rude. Unless otherwise told, I calls'em as I sees'em. Ru Paul is "she". Alec is most definitely "he". I'm sure the gender double-bending on the part of the defense was part of the act.... but bigod the Chewbacca defense did NOT work. And I hope that lawyer gets his pants handed to him by whoever the hell it is signs his paycheck....

That'd learn him. He ought to have to wear a kilt in court for the next year.

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

What is the Chewbacca defense, by the way?

I call them as best I can guess the person I'm speaking of wants them called, and stand prepared to change my usage if they request it.

(There's a person in my church I suspect may be trans, but she dresses like a woman and speaks of herself like a woman, so as far as I'm concerned she's a woman until she expresses some other preference. If I have to keep telling my lizard brain that, I'll repeat it until the lizard gets it. Because that's what civilized people do.)

Alec is he because he wants to be he--and he actually does look very "he" and wouldn't trigger any confusion, except that he reminds me so strongly of Heather sometimes. That way he has of looking up at you through his hair and grinning when he makes a funny.

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

Chewbacca defense (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chewbacca_defense). Basically anything that doesn't make sense. See also Twinkie defense, most famously used (ironically) in the case of Harvey Milk.

Every once in a while there's a hint of Heather about Alec... but in a lot of ways - both from my own experience and to hear Kore tell it - he's a *lot* different... part of me wonders, sometimes, about the Sidhe...