A small amount of new information has surfaced in the brutal attack on a trans woman who had traveled to Trinidad, Colorado, to consult with noted surgeon Dr. Marci Bowers.
The Denver Post reports that, while no arrests have been made, the primary suspect is not from Trinidad. The Post says that non-trans residents of the city pride themselves on their city’s respect and acceptance of the many trans people who live there and who come to Trinidad to meet with Dr. Bowers for consultations or surgical procedures.
Dr. Bowers herself told the Post that the Trinidad community is very accepting of the trans community. “[T]here’s just a respect and a tolerance for this population that’s unique,” she is quoted as saying.
It will no doubt be a relief for many people to know that the suspect who is being investigated for this violent attack is not from Trinidad, and that the police and the district attorney’s office are taking the case very seriously, even though the victim herself is not from the city, either.
Hopefully, an arrest will be made soon and more details will become available.
Now, for a couple of cringe-worthy asides:
1. District Attorney Frank Ruybalid is quoted as saying, “I think a lot of people, when they meet a transgender patient, are surprised at how normal they are.”
Well, yes, we are pretty normal — and I have to admit that a couple of non-trans people have actually expressed their surprise about that to my face. But the statement still makes me squirm, and it makes me hope that, eventually, people will stop being surprised by that fact.
2. The reporter says that the town responded to the attack “as if the victim was just like any other person in the community — which, in Trinidad, she was.”
But not anywhere else? Only in Trinidad was she like any other person in the community? If this attack had taken place somewhere else, would the woman be considered unlike other community members? Is this supposed to be heartwarming?
Asides aside, thank you to the Post and to the reporter for updating us on this important story. And here is a new report from The Pueblo Chieftain in which Dr. Bowers responds to the assault.
