Transgender/priest attack is troubling
BY YALDAZ SADAKOVA
Wednesday, July 16, 2008 8:44 PM EDT
http://www.queenscourier.com/articles/2008/07/17/news/top_stories/news20.txt (http://www.queenscourier.com/articles/2008/07/17/news/top_stories/news20.txt)
Astoria's Steinway Street, like the rest of the neighborhood, embodies tolerance: Greek restaurants coexist with Starbucks coffee shops; women wearing headscarves brush shoulders with females who don't.
But last Monday, intolerance ruled there. Four neighborhood teens viciously attacked and repeatedly beat a transgender woman and a priest who had come to her defense.
Condemning the crime, local politicians and the victims themselves expressed hope that the teens, who face assault and possibly hate crime charges, will get what they deserve. But, much to their chagrin, the attackers were released without bail.