Two unrelated but equally disturbing attacks on transgender women in Los Angeles earlier this month are raising alarms about the ongoing epidemic of violence against the transgender community, particularly transgender women who live and work openly.
In the first case, detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department are seeking three men who allegedly committed multiple hate-motivated assaults against a 61-year-old transgender woman at her store on April 8. According to investigators, one suspect entered the woman’s store and attempted to flirt with her. After she rejected him, he briefly left only to return and push her to the ground. Police say the man sexually assaulted her and threatened to kill her upon learning she was transgender.
The violence did not stop there. Detectives report that the suspect returned several more times with accomplices. In three separate incidents, the group beat the woman with a skateboard, pepper-sprayed her, attempted to use a taser on her, and threw an unknown liquid on her. Police released images of the suspects and believe the group may have targeted additional victims.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the Rampart Division Robbery Detectives at (213) 484-3495 or, after business hours, (877) 527-3247. Anonymous tips can be submitted through LA Regional Crime Stoppers by calling (800) 222-8477 or visiting www.lacrimestoppers.org.
Just days later, and in a separate incident, another transgender woman, Sabrina de la Peña, was brutally attacked inside her small convenience store in the Westlake District. De la Peña, a beloved local business owner who has served the community for nearly 30 years, said the violence began when a man entered her shop, bought a bottle of water, and began flirting with her. When she asked him to leave, he grew angry, knocked her to the ground, and assaulted her.
Security camera footage captured the horrifying scene, including De la Peña’s screams for help. The suspect fled but returned the next day with another man, and together they beat her with a skateboard outside her store. De la Peña says the suspect has returned two more times since, sometimes with additional men.
“I think he hates transgender women because he told me many times, ‘I’m going to kill you,'” De la Peña said. Fearing for her safety, she now closes her business hours earlier, ending nearly three decades of late-night service to her neighborhood.
Both attacks, though unrelated, paint a chilling picture of the dangers transgender women continue to face. Despite Los Angeles’s reputation as an LGBTQ+ friendly city, the reality for many transgender people is that visibility often comes with increased vulnerability.
Transgender advocates warn that these incidents are not isolated but rather part of a broader, national crisis of violence against transgender women, particularly older and working-class individuals.
TransVitae stands with both victims and calls for renewed urgency in addressing anti-transgender violence. Justice, safety, and dignity must not be negotiable; they are rights that every transgender person deserves.
