Teen interrupts Transgender Day of Remembrance vigil with vile transphobia and violent threats
A man interrupted a Trangender Day of Remembrance protest in Dublin, Ireland. (Supplied)
During a quiet candlelit vigil for Trans Day of Remembrance in Ireland, a teen barged into the crowd and hurled transphobic slurs as he tried to disrupt the protest.
According to mobile phone footage, the man forced his way through the crowds outside the Spire of Dublin on Saturday, November 16.
In the major thoroughfare of the city, Trans and Intersex Pride Dublin organised the protest that was crashed by a transphobe, but organisers remain resilient and “refuse to back down”.
“We are not afraid,” they wrote in a Facebook statement.
What happened?
On a cold Autumn evening, trans folk and allies gathered to mourn the loss of the more than 3,000 trans and gender-diverse people who have lost their lives since records began in 2008.
While shoppers pummelled the pavements ahead of the festive season, a man swerved into the circle and tried to ransack the gathering at around 6pm.
In startling mobile phone footage shared with PinkNews by a protester, the teen can be seen hurtling around the square, hurling anti-trans insults and holding his phone up to record himself.
He was wearing a black Nike hoodie with grey joggers and a Gucci cross-body bag, the footage showed.
A man tossed anti-trans comments and tried to hi-jack a vigil. (PinkNews)
Chants of “trans lives matter” did little to detract him from mocking trans and gender-diverse people, jeering “chicks with d***s”.
One protester pushed the man, to which he responded: “Babes, what do you think you’re doing?
“Chicks with d***s, man”, he continued, “f***ing trans.”
Another protester addressed him. Holding a red candle, they cooly enquired: “Would you like to suck my d***?
“You seem to really like ‘chicks with d***s’.”
Locking eyes with the protester as friends gathered around him, he bawled back, “Brother, I would not suck your d***, man”, as a friend of the man ushered him away.
“F***ing tran**”, he muttered as he walked away up O’Connell Street Lower while friends sputtered “chicks with d***”.
Anti-trans man ransacked vigil and allegedly tried to take a trans Pride flag.
“After the recording ends, he actually came back,” a witness told PinkNews.
“He took somebody’s flag and ran through and around our circle again, yelling ‘chicks with d***s’ and ‘tran***s’ and such things.
“People tried to push him out of the circle and eventually got the flag back too.
“When he kept going, some bigger guy tried to be a bit more insistent to keep him away, which is when he stopped laughing and tried to start a physical fight.
“His friends – who were also laughing first amused and then nervously –had to pull him away,” the witness alleged.
Moreover, a Trans and Intersex Pride Dublin spokesperson told PinkNews that no protest attendees or civilians were injured during the incident and apologised for the “upset caused”.
Moving forward, organisers said, further functions will try to have “better stewarding”.
They dubbed it an “unfortunate blight on what was otherwise a successful coming together of our community to both mourn our dead and to fight for those still living.
For us, the strength we had together as a group is a reflection of the safety and power we have when we come together as a community.
“Our unity is our strength and we remain determined to continue the fight for trans rights alongside the rest of our community.”
What is Transgender Day of Remembrance?
Held on November 20, the day is dedicated to paying respect for trans murder victims across the world.
Transgender Day of Remembrance was first held on November 20, 1998, following the murder of Rita Hester, a trans African-American woman in Massachusetts.
Transgender activists and their supporters take part in a candle light vigil held as part of Transgender Day of Remembrance. (MANJUNATH KIRAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Organised by volunteers from the trans community, it has since grown into an international commemoration.
Vigils are held across the world to mark the day, at events where the full list of victims is read.
