Police arrest a juvenile in trans teen assault case

This is a sickening story. On August 16, 18-year-old Dakota Kern, who has been transgender for five years, was invited to a pool party. It was possibly a setup. After hearing some taunts, Kern and a friend attempted to leave. Someone shouted “get it” and Kern was assaulted by as many as 20 people. Those very brave perpetrators of gratuitous violence were so proud of their work that they circulated a video of the assault that was captured on a cell phone.

During the assault, Kern was shoved to the ground and kicked repeatedly. Kern told medical personnel that she hit her head on the pavement and passed out. None of her injuries proved serious. However a hate crime — which is what this was — sends a message that transgender people are potential victims of violence.

Monday, Phoenix police announced that they have arrested one suspect. They have released no details about the individual because he or she is a juvenile. There is little wonder why people feel that they have license to violate transgender folks.

Alliance Defending Freedom, an anti-LGBT hate group is based in neighboring Scottsdale, AZ. They have claimed that “Transgenderism Hurts Women’s Progress and Can’t Survive Its Own Logic.” Other hate groups like Liberty Counsel, Family Research Council, American College of Pediatricians and American Family Association have perpetrated the notion that transgender people are dangerous to others. Their further claims about transgender kids are based on flawed studies published as long ago as 40 years.

They do this, not out of concern for people with gender dysphoria. Rather it is an effort to conform religious dogma to science. Indeed, the amateur psychiatrist better known as Pope Francis crazily asserts that transgender is an ideology.

Every day trans people are assaulted or murdered in this country. Hate groups have blood on their hands. Yet they continue to demonize trans people. They devote considerable energy in an attempt to marginalize SPLC and deflect from their designation as hate groups with naked sanctimony. Hate group leader Mat Staver has even directed Liberty Counsel to sue organizations that correctly identify his operation as a hate group.

These are the organizations that Southern Poverty Law Center considers anti-LGBT hate groups:

• Abiding Truth Ministries
  Springfield, MA
• Alliance Defending Freedom
  Scottsdale, AZ
• American College of Pediatricians
  Gainesville, FL
• American Family Association
  Tupelo, MS
  Franklin, PA
• Americans for Truth About Homosexuality
  Naperville, IL
• American Vision
  Powder Springs, GA
• ATLAH World Missionary Church (All The Land Anointed Holy) New York, NY
• Campus Ministry USA, The
  Terre Haute, IN
• Center for Family and Human Rights (C-FAM)
  Washington, DC
  New York, NY
• Chalcedon Foundation
  Vallecito, CA
• Citizens for Community Values
  Cincinnati, OH
• Conservative Republicans of Texas
  Houston, TX
• D. James Kennedy Ministries (formerly Truth in Action)
  Fort Lauderdale, FL
• Faith Baptist Church (formerly Sons of Thunder)
  Greenville, GA
• Faith2Action North Royalton, OH
• Faithful Word Baptist Church
  Tempe, AZ
• Family Research Council
  Washington, DC
• Family Research Institute
  Colorado Springs, CO
• Family Watch International
  Gilbert, AZ
• Generations With Vision
  Elizabeth, CO
• Heterosexuals Organized for a Moral Environment (H.O.M.E.)
  Downers Grove, IL
• Illinois Family Institute
  Carol Stream, IL
• Illinois Family Institute Tri-County chapter
  Peoria, IL
• Liberty Counsel
  Orlando, FL
• Mass Resistance
  Waltham, MA
  Torrance, CA
  Lewiston, ME
  St. Louis, MO
  Yorktown, VA
• Mission: America
  Columbus, OH
• Pacific Justice Institute
  Sacramento, CA
• Pass the Salt Ministries
  Hebron, OH
• Pilgrims Covenant Church
  Monroe, WI
• Pray in Jesus Name Project
  Colorado Springs, CO
• Probe Ministries
  Plano, TX
• Providence Road Baptist Church
  Maiden, NC
• Public Advocate of the United States
  Falls Church, VA
• Ruth Institute
  San Marcos, CA
• Save California
  Sacramento, CA
• Stedfast Baptist Church
  Fort Worth, TX
• TC Family (Traverse City Family)
  Traverse City, MI
• Tom Brown Ministries
  El Paso, TX
• Traditional Values Coalition
  Washington, DC
  Anaheim, CA
• True Light Pentecost Church
  Spartanburg, SC
• United Families International
  Gilbert, AZ
• Verity Baptist Church
  Sacramento, CA
• Westboro Baptist Church
  Topeka, KS
• Windsor Hills Baptist Church
  Oklahoma City, OK
• World Congress of Families/International Organization for the Family
  Rockford, IL

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