Victim suffered minor injuries.
By Raif Karerat
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A transgender woman suffered minor injuries in a scuffle last week that was initiated after a 34-year-old man reportedly made derogatory comments toward the 45-year-old woman and spat at her while she was shopping at a Target in Glendale, Calif., police announced Tuesday.
The man, identified as Rodolfo Coria, was charged Friday with one misdemeanor count each of assault and committing a hate crime in connection with the incident, said Glendale police spokeswoman Tahnee Lightfoot.
Around 9:40 p.m. Wednesday, police were called to the store, where Coria had allegedly made derogatory comments toward the 45-year-old transgender shopper regarding her sexual orientation, Lightfoot said, according to the Glendale News-Press.
In a news release, police said the city has “zero tolerance” for any form of hate crimes.
“Any acts or threats of violence, harassment, property damage, vandalism, or other crimes motivated by hate and bias and designed to infringe upon these rights are viewed very seriously and will be given high priority by the Glendale Police Department,” the statent said.
In June, National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs that while anti-LGBT violence had diminished 32 percent in the United States overall, hate-motivated violence against transgender people increased 13 percent in 2014 when compared with the previous year.
The data demonstrated a four-year trend in which trans women and LGBT people of color experienced a greater risk of homicide than LGBT people as a whole. Of the 20 LGBT people killed nationwide in anti-LGBT bias attacks last year, 16 were people of color and 11 were transgender women of color.
“There is a public perception that there is a sea change for LGBTQ people, and that is true for public opinion of LGBTQ people,” Chai Jindasurat, who coordinates programs with NCAVP, told BuzzFeed News. “But it is still dangerous to be LGBTQ in the United States.”