CRIME
Bigots Attack Trans Women in Jackson Heights
On the eve of WorldPride, two activists hit with pepper spray, slurs
BY MATT TRACY
Two transgender women
were attacked with pepper
spray and hit with
anti-LGBTQ slurs in
back-to-back assaults in Queens
on the day before WorldPride and
Stonewall 50 in New York City.
Bianey Garcia, a longtime trans
activist who has recently played a
role in the effort to decriminalize
sex work in New York, and Norma
Ureiro were fi rst assaulted at
Roosevelt Avenue and 82nd Street
in Jackson Heights while they were
working on a documentary in the
early morning hours of June 29,
Garcia told Gay City News this
week. Shortly thereafter, they were
attacked yet again.
In the fi rst attack, Garcia said a
pair of assailants approached them
and started muttering hateful
words, saying, “You are a fucking
faggot, you’re not a real woman.”
One attacker, a woman, then accused
Garcia of being a sex worker
and that she would call the police
on her for engaging in prostitution.
Moments later, Garcia was pepper
sprayed twice.
“I started feeling a burn in my
back,” Garcia recalled. “I told her,
‘This is not nice. I’m not doing anything
to you. Why are you using
pepper spray on me?’”
Garcia and Ureiro were able to
fl ag down police offi cers immediately.
Cops placed the fi rst alleged
attacker, 24-year-old Paola Custodio,
under arrest, but she was belligerent
and started kicking windows
while inside of the police car,
Garcia said.
After cops took off with Custodio
in tow, the other attacker — a man
— returned and pounced on the
duo yet again, spraying Garcia in
the face with pepper spray.
Trans activist Bianey Garcia recovering from a pepper spray attack in Elmhurst Hospital over the
weekend.
“I literally was scared,” Garcia
recalled. “I didn’t know if he was
going to use a weapon or a knife.
I was spilling water in my eyes. I
remember someone took my hand
and put me on a bench. I sat down
and called the police again.”
Garcia received medical treatment
at Elmhurst Hospital following
the attacks and tweeted a photo
from there at around 5:30 a.m.
that morning, writing, “Transphobia
against our community exists
in Queens and happens.”
Cops were ultimately unable
to track down the second alleged
perpetrator. Garcia wasn’t pleased
with the way she was treated by
police offi cers because she felt they
carried themselves with certain
assumptions about those who have
been involved in sex work.
“I told police I’m not a sex worker,”
Garcia said. “They really don’t
care.”
The NYPD confi rmed the fi rst arrest
and a department spokesperson
told Gay City News that Custodio
was hit with two hate crime
charges — one for assault and one
for harassment. The other attacker
was still on the loose as of July 2,
and Garcia said Custodio had already
been released from custody.
Garcia was thankful for the outpouring
of support she received
BIANEY GARCIA/ TWITTER
from her friends and loved ones in
the aftermath of the attacks. Local
activists, advocacy groups, and
politicians, including Queens State
Senator Jessica Ramos and out
queer Queens DA candidate Tiffany
Cabán, gathered at a July 1 rally in
support of Garcia and Ureiro.
Several elected offi cials also reacted
to the news on social media.
Out gay City Council Speaker
Corey Johnson wrote on Twitter
that he was “appalled by this senseless
attack,” while Queens Assemblymember
Ron Kim tweeted, “This
is not acceptable. @BianeyDlaO I’m
so sorry this happened to you. We
are here for you, let us know if you
need anything.”
Garcia noted that she has since
started feeling better despite dealing
with lingering discomfort in
her eyes due to the pepper spray.
The attack left her rattled, but she
has no plans to back down from
her community work — even in the
face of danger.
“This is not going to stop me,”
she said.
She later stated on Facebook that
the best way to raise awareness of
violence against the transgender
community is to support the eighth
annual #TransLatinxMarch on
July 8 at 4 p.m. at 92-10 Roosevelt
Avenue in Jackson Heights.
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