I remember the case of a transwoman that I've known that was in a restaurant with some friends, and went to the bathroom, and there was a young woman talking on the phone in the bathroom and the transwoman (who doesn't pass) went to do her business and left, and the young woman chased her and started yelling at her and saying nasty things to her having to do with her transgender status (as you can imagine, similar to some of the nastiest stuff you can imagine.)  She even chased her to her table and was yelling at her in front of others, and fortunately the other people disapproved of what the young woman was doing and the young woman left.

My question is, what would you do if someone verbally attacked you in public, either in a place without other people around or in public.  Would you:

A) Ignore that person and hope they go away

B) Say something like telling them to mind their own business (more or less)

C) Call them a bigot

D) Tell them something like "don't egg on me just because you had a bad day"

E) Other

Do NOT verbally get engaged, that's what folks like that would just love you to do. Causing a scandal.
Give them your SWEETEST smile and just turn away.

Old consulting rule: Smile at the "dragon" - always.
To smile in the face of adversity will show you superior to what ever BS they busy with.

Keep on smiling :-)
Axélle

^ Yeah but then you have to call your closest friends for about an hour or two to talk just to get it off your mind otherwise it will disturb you for the rest of the day if not the whole week.

I would most likely do A but I would reserve the right to do C (and maybe D).  Bigots should be called out, and they don't represent the general population (especially in a big city.)  I would be more likely to do do C if it happened in a big city and that there's other people around, and where it's unlikely that they would get support from others around.

 Whenever such things have happened to me, I have simply chosen not to respond.

I'm thankful that I no longer have to make that choice, as I've become quite a bit sassier of late.

^ I'm just tired of fearing people in public.  Reserving the right gives me more power, that its them and not me that has the problem and that they should be called on it.  Bigoted, according to the Oxford Dictionary definition:

"having or revealing an obstinate belief in the superiority of one's own opinions and a prejudiced intolerance of the opinions of others:"

Bigoted people are primitive, immature, regressive, and are resistive to social progress.  They are responsible for a lot of continued suffering of oppressed people, and IMO don't deserve to have their bigoted views respected and not called out on.

* I'm just tired of fearing people in public. *

Honey,
the flipside of fear is aggression...

Starting an argument in public makes EVERYTHING just so much worse. The you have to add another 1/2 day of phone conversation to get it through your system till you can excrete the BS.

It will then only be proof that you the same aggro, just as the person the verbally attacked you.

SAY NOTHING! SMILE - if you pining for a dog-fight... well, then go for it, yet it will be a VERY gross situation: "->-bleeped-<- verbally attacked Bigot in public..." headline in the SUN :-)

Axélle

Do nothing. If you engage them in a public place, you risk it escalating + if management get's involved for whatever reason, if you have been quiet and this other person is being hostile, -they- will likely be the one asked to leave. You are not going to change this persons mind or attitude calling them names. Don't act ashamed but don't stoop to their level either.

As others have said ignore them. I can deliver quite a nice icey look which I have used. But to be honest I haven't had a problem. I closest I got was a couple in a restaurant who said 'Look at this one' as I passed their table, I went back and asked what they wanted to look at? Very politely. My friend and I then sat at the table next to them and had a really nice meal, while they had quite a miserable time.

Do remember people who are secure about themselves will never be rude to you. So if you do answer back you are provoking an insecure person and they are better off ignored.

Cindy

It depends where you are to some degree

I've been verbally and physically attacked at my apt.s a couple of times and had to protect myself as best I could

I was verbally attacked at the grocery store quite awhile back, I was scared half to death as this guy (who looked like a real life Freddy Krueger)
followed me across the store calling me names and making other rude remarks and threats

Although I was afraid, I just went about my business and tried to act like I didn't notice him    Well, several (I think four) of the guys who worked there confronted the guy and as I was leaving a police car rolled up and they went in (I assume to talk to the guy) 

I usually take the first option, but it does depend on where it is and how strong I'm feeling.

This happened to me once in a semi-public place, a community center where I'd been hanging out, getting counseling and free coffee, doing volunteer work, and going to various gatherings for years. I was still selectively closeted. One guy's kindergarten-aged son came running into the room wearing a fancy gown and plastic high heels from the dress up bin. This kid did stuff like this all the time, no matter how much his father got onto him. He came running in this one evening, so proud and pretty, and almost every single one of the 15 or so adults started making fun of him and saying nasty things and making bigoted jokes. I stood up and told them to stop it, that it was not okay to talk like that in that space.

They all turned on me. I'm not used to getting bullied as an adult, or at least not by so many people. It frankly scared the hell out of me, but I held my ground. The first comment/accusation was "Why do you care, are you one of them?"

I said yes of course are you blind. Is it not obvious. They said you still aren't gay or anything, gay people are gross, and you're just a girl. They said I was just a girl and there's nothing wrong with girls liking girls. I was shaking and told them they didn't know what they were talking about. Several people launched into mean-spirited and ignorant arguments about how messed up gay people are. I tried to explain that every vicious thing they said kept someone they loved in the closet. I tried to point out how happy that little boy was in his dress and that it didn't seem to matter to him whether he was a "->-bleeped-<-" or not. I tried to be honest and calm. I tried.

After that there was a period where whenever I'd walk in, everybody would stop talking. There was a lot of whispering about me. But no less than three people came to me in private and thanked me, and said they'd been too scared to say anything.

I don't hang out there anymore. It's obviously not a place for people like me, but when I do visit, I get hugs and I'm treated like one of the old guard. It's okay.

So yeah. But usually I just ignore it. Not worth bothering with.

I'd give them the 3 strikes before I counter-attacked. I'd try to be civil and let them look like an idiot, maybe call the cops if it got really bad and if it became physical then the gloves are off. I have a temper. HRT just made my fuse a little longer.

Sorry, I didn't answer the question

I call someone who verbally attacks me in public an @$$#0le

I call them an ambulance. The replies here are a little confusing. Every time a transgender person is assaulted, the cry goes up that someone should have stepped in. Now we are supposed to just take it? Do what the girl on the NYC subway did. If you don't stand up for yourself, no one else will. Hugs, Devlyn

What did the girl on the NYC subway do?

The girl on the subway stood up for herself, that's what she did. I have five decades as a man as well. I haven't learned how to walk away from a fight, and I hope I never do. Hugs, Devlyn

I'm sure not advocating just standing there and letting someone physically attack you without defending yourself.
My feelings are:
A) THINK like a women and avoid putting yourself in this position in the first place. Don't walk through a crowd of obvious skin heads if you can walk down another isle or around the block to avoid them. Stay out of dark parking lots alone. If you don't pass, avoid bathrooms in a hostile environment. Probably best to avoid them even if you do pass. A genetic woman knows not to put herself in harms way. Becoming a woman also means changing your behavior, places and things that were safe to do as a guy no longer may be.
B) If something verbal starts, don't try to escalate it into something physical by responding. The person you are dealing with is an idiot and even if you bitch them out or end up kicking their butt in a fight, all that is going to do is make them more hostile to the next TG person they run into. If you're in a crowded place, don't cower down but don't engage them either. If other people start to join in and it is looking like a riot is about to break out, just leave.
C) If they start to physically assault you, try to get away from them and/or get help. Most business owners do NOT want anyone being attacked in the store and know if you come to them and they do nothing or join in, you will likely be the new owner of their store. Even just a hard push is a sign it's about to get real ugly.
D) If all the above fails, fight dirty and get away. Use your purse to smack them on the side of the head, kick them in the nuts, bite them on the ear or whatever it takes to give yourself an exit.

At close range i smile sweetly, at long range i sometimes risk blowing a kiss aswell.

Ignore them and get out of Dodge.  Do not provoke what could be a violent response.

I naturally can sense when there's a potentially dangerous situation and my instinct is to avoid confrontation.  I never said that i'd fight, but I reserve the right to condemn and scorn the person if they are verbally attacking me enough.  Many women are good at doing this, yelling at a person in fury (getting bitchy.) 

I was someone that was bullied when I was little, and I know how it is to be in a dangerous environment.  The one thing is that, because I was a Jehovahs Witness, I was taught not to fight, however that led me to not fighting and not standing up for myself (and when you are in the male world, you can't condemn someone for bothering or trying to fight you), which made me feel angry throughout my life that I didn't stand up for myself (which in itself led to feelings of aggression against aggressive people that attack peaceful people.)

I'm tired of living in fear of other people.  I also reserve the right to use my pepper spray and other self defense tools that can fit in my purse.

I would probably smile, blow them a kiss and flip my hair and walk away.  Girls HATE that...it's like the ultimate diss from a ->-bleeped-<-.