Omaha deejay accused of punching transgender woman charged with hate crime

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Omaha World Herald

By Kevin Cole

An Omaha deejay has been charged with a hate crime after he was accused of storming into a women’s restroom at an Omaha bar and assaulting a transgender woman.

Stephen E. Thompson, 45, was charged Monday in Douglas County Court with one count of third-degree assault that is being prosecuted as a felony hate crime. A judge set bail at $50,000. Thompson must pay 10 percent of that amount to be released from jail.

Kara Jeslyn Barone, 27, of Omaha, said she went to the Down Under Lounge at 3630 Leavenworth St. on Friday night with friends.

Barone, who said she has been transitioning from male to female for three years, said she and another transgender woman went into the women’s restroom shortly after arriving. Thompson’s girlfriend, an acquaintance of Barone’s, also was in the restroom.

FULL story at link.



Stephen Thompson has been charged with one count of third-degree assault that is being prosecuted as a felony hate crime.

Read more: http://www.omaha.com/news/crime/omaha-deejay-accused-of-punching-transgender-woman-charged-with-hate/article_c63ecdb2-4bfe-5c60-a40e-2876a8a644f0.html

[dhill926]

1. looks like an asshole, acts like an asshole....

[marble falls]

2. What is it with DJ's and the trans community?.....

I also found this interesting read:

Transgender controversies can lead to ‘gender panic,’ study finds
By Mary Abowd
November 1, 2013

When New York City moved in 2006 to make it easier for transgender people to revise the gender on their birth certificates, the proposal was widely expected to pass.

But the anti-discrimination measure failed, in part because of public opposition to removing the requirement that individuals have genital surgery before claiming a different gender.

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“The backlash was intense,” said Kristen Schilt, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Chicago. “There was such a fervor over taking the surgery requirement out, a sense of, ‘Absolutely not. There’s going to be chaos.’”

Schilt calls this public reaction “gender panic,” a concept that she and co-author Laurel Westbrook explore in their study, “Doing Gender, Determining Gender,” published in the October issue of the journal Gender and Society. The authors examined mainstream news coverage of transgender-related news and policy issues, and found trends that reflect entrenched views about transgender people and broader gender issues. Like the terms “moral panic” and “sex panic,” Schilt describes gender panic as a deep, cultural fear, set off in this case when the “naturalness” of a male-female gender binary is challenged. When such challenges affect public policy, Schilt said, “that’s when the panic starts to get really hot.”
Perceived threats to women’s spaces spur panic

Since the 1960s, American society has tended to uphold values of autonomy and equality, including gender self-identity, Schilt said. Transgender people typically are accepted in “non-sexual” spaces like the workplace. But acceptance hits a wall when it comes to places reserved for women. In the case of New York birth certificates, the “panic” centered on how such a policy could lead to granting access to women’s bathrooms and locker rooms for individuals who identify as women but have male anatomies.

<snip>

http://news.uchicago.edu/article/2013/11/01/transgender-controversies-can-lead-gender-panic-study-finds

[dippitydoo]

3. This is why I left Omaha and never looked back

I dealt with similar situations transitioning in Omaha.

There were times I would go out to and be confronted by strangers in the most violent ways. I was repeatedly punched from behind at one bar on 10th street. There were times friends had to help me out of places because an angry guy felt insulted because he was attracted to me.

The most egregious was the state of nebraska threatening to pull my drivers license because of my gender status.

Nothing quite like receiving some of that midwestern fear dressed as 'kindness'.

[icymist]

5. Let me welcome you to the DU!

[marble falls]

4. Loved Omaha, disliked a lot of Omahuns.

[Judi Lynn]

6. Very ugly person living behind that ugly face. Thank you for the post, Omaha Steve. n/t