‘Beloved trans performer’ left with paralysed face after violent attack
Amber Nicole was attacked in Lodo, Denver. (CBS/GoFundMe)
A transgender woman has been left with a broken jaw after being assaulted outside of a bar in Lodo, Denver.
Amber Nicole told CBS Denver that she was harassed as she left Tavern Downtown early Sunday morning (March 28).
Video footage shows her crying as she almost gets into a car, before turning around and telling a friend to “keep recording.”
Seconds later, Nicole is seen stumbling back towards the vehicle.
“That’s when she realises that the two of us are covered in blood because I was bleeding so much from the attack,” Nicole said.
“We’re just out trying to live our lives and have fun with our peers, and people just can’t seem to see us that way.”
“We’re just out trying to live our lives.”
—Amber Nicole
The attack left Nicole with a broken face and jaw, as well as nerve damage which has paralysed the right side of her face.
Her mother, Juls Martinez, said: “I was horrified to see my baby like that and all I could do was thank God that she was alive, but then I didn’t even know if she would wake up.”
Doctors do not yet know if Nicole will fully recover. Friend have stared a fundraising campaign to help the family with her “horrendous” medical bills.
Amber Nicole has been left with a broken jaw and facial paralysis. (CBS Denver)
“Amber Nicole is a beloved trans performer and Denver socialite with a heart of gold,” organisers wrote.
“This hate crime has shaken Amber and her closest friends and family. It should shake the entire community. We MUST stand for our trans sister.”
The Denver Police Department are appealing for witnesses to the attack to come forward.
26 trans women killed in 2018
Transgender women face disproportionate levels of violence in the US and across the world.
At least 26 trans women were killed in the US in 2018—the majority of whom were young women of colour, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
At least two more women—Dana Martin and Ashanti Carmon—have been murdered this year.
“Transgender people face extraordinary levels of physical and sexual violence, whether on the streets, at school or work, at home, or at the hands of government officials,” says the National Centre for Transgender Equality.
“More than one in four trans people has faced a bias-driven assault, and rates are higher for trans women and trans people of colour.”
Under the Trump administration, the rights of trans people are slowly being eroded.
New protections “of conscience rights” for doctors and healthcare providers, announced on Thursday (May 2), have been labelled “a license to discriminate against LGBT+ people” amid fears that they will be used to deny transition-related care.
And on April 12, a ban on transgender people serving open in the military was enacted, putting the livelihood of some 13,700 at risk.
