photo by angela n.
“Dear PoPville,
I’m writing to thank people who helped my partner and I on a bus when we were being harassed. In the moment, we didn’t get to thank them, but I was hoping this could reach them!
My partner and I got on the 90 bus at U & New Hampshire NW on Saturday June 9.
A man cat-called my partner, and when they didn’t respond, he grew agitated and started yelling transphobic statements. He kept asking them and the entire bus if my partner had “a dick or not.” He then got up from his seat, still yelling, and started to come towards us in the back of the bus. A man stood up, physically stopped him, and told him to calm down. He wasn’t calming down, so another man got up and they made him take a seat. The driver also got up to mediate. He was sitting down but wouldn’t stop demanding an answer to that question.
We ended up getting off the bus at that same stop because it was clear he wasn’t going to stop yelling about my partner until we left. We were too frozen in the moment to thank the people on the bus who defended us, but I so appreciate everyone who stopped him. It was jarring and scary to experience such transphobia in the middle of Pride weekend, but it was heartwarming to know that our city had our backs.”