CRIME
Teen Injured in Violent Anti-LGBTQ Attack in the Bronx
Attackers allegedly threw cans of food, voiced homophobic slurs at 17-year-old victim
BY MATT TRACY
Three individuals threw
cans of food and hurled
anti-LGBTQ slurs at a
17-year-old individual
in a violent attack at a Bronx playground
on December 12, according
to the NYPD.
“Hey faggot, take off your fucking
wig,” the alleged assailants said, a
police spokesperson told Gay City
News. “You faggots don’t belong on
this block.”
Authorities said the attack unfolded
at 9 p.m. on the mid-December
Saturday evening at Melrose
Playground, which is adjacent to a
residential building at 681 Courtlandt
Avenue in the Bronx.
The 17-year-old victim suffered
a torn ligament in their knee as a
result of the attack, according to
authorities. Even after the initial
incident, the alleged assailants
The anti-LGBTQ attack allegedly took place at Melrose Playground in the Bronx.
continued to call the teen a “faggot,”
cops said.
Police are investigating the case
as a hate crime assault, but an
NYPD spokesperson told Gay City
News that no suspects have been
identifi ed or arrested as of December
24.
One of the three unidentifi ed individuals
accused of carrying out
the attack was last seen wearing
a red sweatshirt, while the other
two were donning black sweatshirts.
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The incident occurred just
weeks after another teen — a
19-year-old — was exiting an MTA
bus in Chelsea when a man allegedly
punched him and said, “I
hate gay people,” according to the
New York Post.
Trans Woman in Chicago Fatally Shot Christmas Day
Police misgendered victim, mum on whether murder being investigated as hate crime
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
Courtney “Eshay” Key, 25, died after
a gunshot wound to the head on December
25, according to the Chicago
Police Department. Offi cers discovered
her body lying unresponsive on the south
side of the street at 900 E. 82nd Street.
The city’s medical examiner’s offi ce has declared
the incident a homicide. The investigation
is ongoing. So far, the perpetrator is unknown.
Family and friends blasted police reports for
misgendering the victim. The victim’s friend,
Beverly Ross, told CBS2 Chicago she believes
Key was killed because of her gender. Relatives
and friends are requesting the police investigate
this incident as a hate crime.
“I believe Eshay was targeted,” Ross told the
news station. “We need to get to the bottom of
this because Black trans lives matter. We are
not going anywhere.”
The police did not comment when Gay City
News asked if they’re investigating the incident
as a hate crime.
FACEBOOK/ ESHAY KEY
Courtney “Eshay” Key was found dead on Chicago’s South Side on
Christmas, with a gunshot to her head.
The victim’s friend recalled that Key wanted
to “beat the odds” and “be something.”
Key’s death is the latest in a string of murders
against Black transgender people in the
US — including in Chicago. Key was killed
nearly seven months after a 37-year-old transgender
woman, Selena Reyes-Hernandez, was
also killed in the same city.
Last week, Gay City News reported that Bella
Pugh, a gender-non-conforming 19-year-old,
was killed at a Christmas party that erupted
into violence in Prichard, Alabama, which is
near Mobile.
Pugh’s mother told Fox10 that bystanders
fi lmed the incident and posted it on Facebook.
Bystanders then said if Pugh “wasn’t wearing
that dress,” nobody would have been killed.
On December 16, the Prichard Police Department,
based in Mobile, charged James Lee
James, Jr., with murder and second-degree
assault.
With Black and Latinx trans women accounting
for a disproportionate number of
these deaths, the Human Rights Campaign,
the nation’s largest LGBTQ advocacy group,
announced that this year is the deadliest on record
for the trans community, with at least 42
known victims of violent fatalities.
GayCityNews.com | December 31, 2020 - January 13, 2021 7
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