[ad_1]
A transgender woman in Malta has described a vicious attack by a man who reportedly punched her in the face and ripped out her hair while she was waiting for a bus.
The alleged assault occurred at the Kullegg bus stop in Msida on Sunday (August 4) and appears to be unprovoked. The woman, who chose to remain unnamed, wrote of the attack on Facebook.
She claims the man approached her as she was ordering food while waiting at the bus stop. She says he told her to “go for the sausage roll” as it would “suit her more,” and then called her a “f**king pufta.”
After confronting the abusive man, the woman says she was physically attacked. “He raised his hand to me, he punched me in the face and ripped out my hair,” she told Times of Malta.
“I tried to defend myself and that’s when people started to intervene.”
The woman managed to capture a photo of the alleged attacker, which shows him swearing at the camera.
She ends her post: “Welcome to Malta and the so called gay rights – I’m ashamed to be Maltese.”
LGBT+ rights in Malta
Overall Malta has a very positive record for LGBT+ rights. Discrimination against LGBT+ people has been banned in Malta since 2004, and in 2016 it became the first EU country to ban conversion therapy.
Earlier this year it was named the best European holiday destination for LGBT+ travellers, with the Malta Tourism Authority citing the Maltese people’s “reputation for kindness and excellent hospitality.”
But the unnamed transgender woman told Times of Malta that while LGBT+ people in Malta enjoy many rights on paper, the reality on the ground is that attacks such as this one happen with some frequency to several people in the community.
“The thing that hurts me the most is that transgender people who came out in the 80s and 90s cannot move forward,” she said.
“They keep getting attacked and labelled with their past, they are ignored by society and it doesn’t get better for them.
“I’m trying my best and I’m not hurting anyone, just let me live.”
[ad_2]
Source link
