Sorry this goes on for quite a bit, belive it or not this is a majorly condensed account of what happened

Whilst returning from a meeting today I had a bit of an incident, I don't frighten easily & these idiots had a bit of a shock that their bully boy tactics failed, hopefully they'll think twice next time.

The group consisted of 4 men & 2 women (the women stayed out of the altercation which in my book is as bad as joining in). As I was walking down the pavement towards the group one of the men made a big act of moving out of my way as if I carried the bubonic plague, as I walked past he sneered "F******* ->-bleeped-<-" so I told him he should keep such opinions to himself (I was NOT polite), he threatened to smash my face in & spat in my face (grubby little urchin).
My immediate response was to reach for my phone & start dialing 999, before I was put through to the police one of his friends struck me in the back of my head sending me sprawling to the ground, my phone skittered into the gutter & several pairs of feet tried to stamp on my phone to smash it.

Before I go further in this tale i'd like to advise people that my next step is not recommended for most people, I only did it because i've been trained in Tai Kwon Do & Ninjitsu by some people I knew years ago, unfortunately they never taught me how to have eyes in the back of my head hence someone getting a shot in.

The group started to walk away laughing until they realised that I was following them, the main antagonist threatened to smash my face in (again) so I pretended not to hear it, when the guilable fool repeated his threat I thrust my phone in his face so the police now have a recording of his threat.
At this point the group started to run, I gave the police a running commentary of every side street they ran down, the chase went on for about 20 min. From time to time they lost me but I know every inch of this part of town so they didn't elude me for long, the group then split up.
I followed the 2 women & 2 of the men (the women refused to run), then one of the more aggresive men split off, a few minutes later the final man ran for it & unfortunately I lost track of him less than a minute before the police arrived.

The police said I was probably fitter than most of their officers for keeping the chase up for so long, they said they struggled to keep up with my foot chase in their car, lol.

My neck, back & right wrist hurt like crazy now but i'm a tough battle axe, i'll bounce back.

Please learn from this incident, get self defence training & if you are faced with a hate crime then BEFORE phoning the police use your phone to take a picture (if safe), it's quite hard to remember simple things such as the perpetrators clothes once the adrenaline wears off.

Stay safe out there people

Sorry you had to go through this Jayne, people can be such a-holes. I hope you're OK, and that these knuckle-draggers will think twice before hassling a trans woman again.

I seem to recall that a very wise woman once told me she'd noticed that 4 is the magic number for groups of men who resort to violence. She said that 3 guys will usually talk each other out of it, and 5 guys will probably not bother. But 4 guys (especially with a couple of women to impress) will most likely kick off.

Who was that wise woman again? Oh yeah, it was you.

I hope they're bricking it, knowing the cops might be looking for them.

That sucks that you had to go through that. People suck. But I applaud you for standing your ground. Right on!

Actually, that just reminded of an incident that happened last summer. I was walking over to my aunt & uncle's house and as I was passing the Taco Bell on the corner of a main artery through town, this blonde haired, skinny, preppie douchebag actually tried to rob me. He walks up to me and gets in my face and said "Give me your money." I looked at him and laughed and said: "F--k you, man". I shoved him aside and went on my way, checking behind me to make sure that he wasn't following me. There were two other guys sitting on bicycles that were identical to the little prick, so that was the main reason why I did what I did. If it had been he and I, I would have beat him until he was black, blue and bloody. But I wasn't about to test my luck in a 3 on 1 fight. Even though I fought many mismatched fights as a kid, I didn't want to risk it that day. The ironic thing is that I had a cellphone on me and I should have called the cops on the little bastard, but I had just got it, so I wasn't in the habit of using it yet.

Right on for being a fighter but at the same time, be careful out there!  I don't want you to get hurt.

I'm sorry you had to experience that sort of treatment Jeyne it just shows how uneducated and unintelligent these ppl are stay safe xx

I'm glad you got through that safely. And that's one more group of people who hopefully now understand that it's not okay to target transpeople for abuse.

Quote from: Lara the Lover and the Fighter on June 24, 2014, 02:50:34 PM
Right on for being a fighter but at the same time, be careful out there!  I don't want you to get hurt.

As I was walking home from a friends house (with the big dog) I was considering what i'd typed here & was going to edit it, as people have commented i'll leave it as it untouched & add this:

This should be taken as a cautionary tale, I was outnumbered & whilst dealing with the antagonist I had 5 people behind me, rather than face this man I should have put my back to the railings to keep it covered.
I didn't do this because I was bullied at school until 15 when I stood up to them, since that day i've been hardwired to never back down to bullying & that includes never taking a step back (I know it's silly).

I was on the floor for maybe 10-20 seconds, fortunately the target of their feet was my phone, had it been me then I could either be in hospital right now or going cold on a slab, sobering thought.

Whilst we have the right to tell these knuckle dragging idiots what we think of their abuse we should always carefuly assess the situation, from now on i'll go through a quick checklist in my head.
How Many?
How Public?
How Drunk? (me & them)
Time of Day

If it looks like things are going pear shaped quickly whip out my phone & BEFORE phoning the police take a quick picture of the offender, this increases the chance of someone getting caught.

Quote from: Felix on June 24, 2014, 03:53:07 PM
I'm glad you got through that safely. And that's one more group of people who hopefully now understand that it's not okay to target transpeople for abuse.

The irony is that I was returning from an LGBT meeting, one of the topics covered was Hate crimes. I made the coppers chuckle when I told them that.

Quote from: FTMDiaries on June 24, 2014, 02:31:31 PM

I seem to recall that a very wise woman once told me she'd noticed that 4 is the magic number for groups of men who resort to violence. She said that 3 guys will usually talk each other out of it, and 5 guys will probably not bother. But 4 guys (especially with a couple of women to impress) will most likely kick off.

Who was that wise woman again? Oh yeah, it was you.

I hope they're bricking it, knowing the cops might be looking for them.

You got the first bit of the quote right about 4 guys but you mixed up the other two, i've updated my old line & it now reads

3 guys & they'll probably not have enough balls between them
4 guys & they've got just enough balls
5 guys & they've got enough balls but the law of averages means one is a nice guy who'll tell his mates they're out of line
Throw in a woman to impress & throw away the previous rules

I doubt they're bricking it due to their obviously low I.Q's but hopefully next time they see a transperson they'll decide to stay quiet because it's not worth the hassle of being an (guess the next word).

Glad you're OK,there's some proper wankers oiut there

All of this worries me because I am not tough, I own a pistol and concealed carry is legal here, but I really have doubts to if I have the guts to use it, or deal with the consequences if I do, and it could be used against me too....All of these things make me just really worried about the potential for violence as there just doesn't seem to be any good result.

Do you carry the gun in your purse?

Even though I don't like guns much I've been considering to get a small caliber pistol and have been thinking about how I would carry it

Glad you're alright Jayne! I never have such problems, probably because I ain't purty and can be pretty intimidating. In any event the best means of self defense is a swift kick in the nuts, nothing takes the starch out of a male more than that and it's not lethal, you won't go to jail for defending yourself in that manner.

Sorry this happened to you... your courage is an inspiration to us all !

OO

Peky

Quote from: V M on June 24, 2014, 07:11:41 PM
Do you carry the gun in your purse?

Even though I don't like guns much I've been considering to get a small caliber pistol and have been thinking about how I would carry it

No, I do have a concealable holster, but it is a full size 1911, I have been thinking of buying something really small like a makarov because this thing just feel really large to carry on me now, and there are some small frame 1911s by Kimber that I thought were quite nice they are really out of my price range especially for something I don't know of I would use.

I have been meaning to buy some pepper spray again I had some on me at the club and it was taken from me and I hadn't remembered to buy more. I have little confidence in my ability to fight off an attacker weaponless.

There were times after my mom and I and Snickers got attacked by a dog back in North Carolina that whenever I would walk Snickers from that point on I'd bring my seam ripper with me just in case of another vicious dog getting loose. Though after a bit I stopped carrying it, figured it'd be just as easy to step on its leg and break it if ever attacked again. I was really serious about protecting my dog, she was almost killed that day after all.

As for people, eh, I guess I'm just going to have to learn how to scream, and very loud. And rely on my speed and agility to get away because I don't have the strength to fend off a strong attacker, simple facts (I can't even do two push-ups). Though a good swift kick to the nuts would be a definite option if cornered. I pray I never get put into that kind of encounter.

Damn, chase them down, what're nuts!  Good that you were able to reverse roles, but be careful, next time it may not work out that way, you lucked out that they were all cowards.

It's been a few years ago, but I've been attacked a few times and have been somewhat wary of it ever since

I was able to fend off my attackers at that time but I've gotten older and have lost a lot of strength, plus I have various injuries I cope with so I'm not sure I would fare so well now

Quote from: Megan Joanne on June 24, 2014, 07:58:35 PM
Damn, chase them down, what're nuts!  Good that you were able to reverse roles, but be careful, next time it may not work out that way, you lucked out that they were all cowards.

Indeed.  I would bet you that none of those yobbos would have done anything of the sort if they had been alone. 

Quote from: Jill F on June 24, 2014, 08:29:34 PM
Indeed.  I would bet you that none of those yobbos would have done anything of the sort if they had been alone.

That's very true. I have NEVER had anything happen when it was a one on one situation. It was always people in groups.

Oh my.. how terrifying... I cannot even imagine.. My heart goes out to you, Jayne, and anyone else who has had to face such cruelty in this world. It is just amazing the amount of stupidity some people have.. :/

Part of the problem is that I can't/won't hide the girls anymore, have 5 O'clock shadow & can't use make up to hide it.

The best advice I can give for those worried about going out is be aware of your surroundings, carry a phone with a good camera.
Here in the UK we can't protect ourselves with guns so martial arts training is a good idea. If you face a situation with confidence most cowards back down.
If you're out at night then carry a torch, the LED ones are good for this. If someone gets aggressive & it's dark then point the torch at them & turn it on for a second to ruin their night vision for at least 30 seconds, maybe more.
Or you could just buy a big dog.