A transgender woman and her nonbinary partner were surrounded and beaten by a crowd of about ten people outside a restroom at Cypress Black Bayou Park in Benton, Louisiana, on May 31. Weeks later, it is the couple, not their attackers, who are facing criminal charges.
What Happened at the Lake
Rush and Sanders had gone to the park for a lakeside cookout. Rush, who is transgender, used the women's restroom earlier in the day without incident. It was only later, as the couple prepared to leave, that trouble started: Sanders, who is nonbinary and was assigned female at birth, stopped to use the same restroom. While Rush waited outside, a man began harassing her, following her toward her car, hurling slurs and threatening violence if she went near the restroom again.
By the time Sanders emerged, the harassment had grown into a crowd of roughly ten men and women who surrounded Rush, screaming threats and claiming they were defending their children. When Sanders tried to lead Rush away, the group attacked them both. Sanders was knocked unconscious, suffered a gash requiring stitches, and had a scratched cornea that left them temporarily blind in one eye. Sanders also has a neurostimulator wired into their nervous system for a preexisting spinal condition, and doctors are still checking whether the beating damaged it. Rush, who already lives with a disability related to a hip injury, sustained a concussion, blood pooling around both eyes, and welts that swelled to the size of an apple.
Arrested, Then Charged, While Attackers Walk Free
Neither Rush nor Sanders fought back, according to their account. Sanders was taken away by ambulance. Rush was questioned by police and then arrested, taken to a men's jail despite carrying a driver's license marked female, searched by a male guard, and booked under a name she says she'd never used or heard before. She later recognized that name on Facebook as belonging to one of the people who had attacked her.
No evidence has surfaced that anyone else present that day was arrested. Rush was charged with two counts of disturbing the peace, one for
Source: Metro Weekly
Cover photo: Chad Populis / Pexels
