A black trans woman in Philadelphia, US was beaten in her own home on the eve of Monday, August 24 after asking a group of people outside her house to keep the noise down. Kendall Stephens, 34, told Action News she was at home with her husband, goddaughter and another child when she heard people ‘fighting and throwing liquor bottles’ outside of her property.
After asking the group to cease, Kendall was beaten and reportedly called transphobic slurs while being told by the attackers that she ‘deserved’ the violence. Part of the assault was caught on CCTV before the surveillance camera was damaged; the recovered video shows a group of six people. Kendall says her face is swollen and she has been ‘barely able to chew’ following the attack.
She continued ‘I am in fear for my life, they threatened to come back and finish the job’. Deja Alvarez of the Philadelphia LGBTQ+ police liaison committee says they are ‘grateful Kendall is alive but angry that this has happened’. Alvarez insists ‘there will be an example made that it is not going to be an open season on trans people’.
Kendall is well known in the state’s LGBTQ+ community and has previously been named ‘person of the year’ by Philadelphia Gay News for playing an active role in facilitating gender non-conforming support groups. Philadelphia Police are looking into the case and have several suspects, but so far no arrests have been made.
