Georgia Transsexual Man Called ‘It’ by Police Pushes for End to Harassment
Juan Evans, a transsexual man who was harassed and dehumanized by police officers in East Point, Ga., received a small measure of justice this week after hearing a heartfelt apology from the town’s mayor. But he is continuing to seek an apology and an indication of future changes from the town’s police department.
On October 23, Evans was pulled over by police for speeding. Having left his wallet at his office several blocks away, Evans identified himself by providing his birth name, birth date, social security number, and address. He told officers he was a transsexual after an officer accused him of lying.
In response, a police officer allegedly demanded to search Evans’ genitals on the side of the road to determine his gender. When Evans refused, he says the officer laughed and stated, “I have a right to search your mother’s genitals to find out who you are.”
Evans…
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Posted on 11/05/2014, in Potpourri, Uncategorized and tagged East Point, Georgia, Jannquell Peters, Juan Evans, Solutions Not Punishment Coalition, transexual. Bookmark the permalink. 58 Comments.
We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident 
How cruel!
When will this insanity end.
Who do these “officers” think they are?
I’m so sick of this hate and they say there’s no pill for stupid. I wish there was one for hate.
It is so contagious!
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Lolypop,
Yes, a pill, a magic wand, anything that will rid hate.
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Isn’t that the truth Xena?
Doesn’t it take a lot more energy to hate?
I really have always been optomistic, but this reasoning for hatred is just too much.
We have a lot more hate and a lot more guns.
The two are lethal.
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Lolypop,
In my spiritual understanding, hate is like a malignant cancer, eating on the inside. We here don’t want it to be contagious. Some people have guns out of hate and/or fear. It’s like a drug or alcoholism that gives them false courage where they do things with guns that they would not normally do.
Mankind can live without hate and fear, but it’s up to each individual. As the lyrics of a song say, “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.”
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You’re right Xena,
Like my friend says, he knows he can start by helping in his community or his neighbor and that is the truth.
And I like if you feel peace you want everyone to have it.
And like you said it begins with me.
I know some times I fear, but I don’t own a gun.
I’m not against them at all and I know plenty of people that have them, but they would never praise their guns or misuse them.
You’re right I believe to some they are like a drug.
You’re so wise. Really!!!
You help keep me feel less fear in just the way you say things. : )
I appreciate it so much.
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Lolypop, I am nothing more than a reflection from your heart. We are one. I love you.
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Oh Xena, Thank You!!!
I love you too!! :Almost made me cry. : )
I’ve been very emotional today!!!!
Thank goodness for you!
I’m very serious.
You don’t know how much you help people!
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Lolypop,
I’m a big fan of the movie “Avatar.” The theme song from that movie has the lyrics, “I see me through your eyes.” Your comment reminded me of that. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
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Thank YOU Xena, I love your funny faces and hugs. They make me smile all over!! : )
I’m goig to find that song!
You are really something else. : )
You always amaze me. : )
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Oh Lolypop, the song will make your heart sing!
And if you haven’t seen the movie……please rent or buy it! I have the movie, and watch it at least once a month. It is full of nothing other than nature, love and connection. 🙂
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“I see you.”
Norm: “It’s not just seeing. It’s seeing into — I see into you.”
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Oh my!
When Norm goes to the tree of life and asks for guidance, help…………I always burst in to tears when all of the animals listen to the wisdom that is fed throughout the land, because of the connection they all share. They all respond……..
Ohhhhhhhhhhhh…….it’s time. I am going to watch it again, right now. 🙂
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Hi kindheart
Now, I wouldn’t miss it.
3 recomendations from the best. : )
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Dear Lolypop…………
I watched it again this afternoon, and I felt so much at peace, so calm, refreshed, that I took a two hour nap, and just signed back on. (And I could watch it all over again)
I can’t wait for you to give us your opinion. 🙂
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Well, I NEED that for sure!!! : )
Y’all are so helpful. Thanks so much yahtzee, Xena and kindheart. : )
If it’s as beautiful as the music, I can only imagine.
Y’all are something else!!! : )
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Lolypop,
Here is it.
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That is beautiful!! : )
When my granddaughter was about 5, we were on the plane and she got up real close to me and put her eye up to mine and said gramma can you see me in your eye?
I thought that was really something then, but now I know it REALLY was something. : )
I love that.
Thanks again!! : )
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Xena,
I saw the song on You Tube.
Now I’m bawling. llololololol
But, it’s a great feeling and such a beautiful song.
Wow!!!
I’m happy, thank you!!! : )
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Lolypop,
If you haven’t seen the movie “Avatar,” I recommend it. It’s a study on many levels. I’m watching it again (lost count for how many times I’ve seen it), but this time, I’m focusing on the character Norm. He came in as a scientist but ended up being a warrior, risking his life to save the people and their connection to their god. As a scientist, he was not suppose to believe in “magic.”
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Xena,
If this is the right one, I just purchased it. : )
Can’t wait to watch it. : )
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Yes Lolypop, that’s the one!!! If you get the 3 disk edition, disk 1 continues on disk 2. Watch the one with the 18 additional scenes.
I was going to blog about Avatar, but I’ll wait until after you’ve seen it. It is a wonderful movie.
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I am going to watch Avatar again tonight! 🙂
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Hi Yahtzee
It must be really good.
I’ll probably have it in 2 days. : )
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Oh, it really is Lolypop!
Beautiful, spiritually deep, and inspiring!
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I am 27 minutes into it right now 🙂
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I just watched it again too. 🙂
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ahhhh…just finished watching it.
glowing inside 🙂
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Thank you for re-blogging this post Xena. Atrocious behavior, but the remark ” “I have a right to search your mother’s genitals to find out who you are” is so over the top vile its hard to fathom someone would actually let it come out of their mouth.
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The scariest part is that officer really thinks he does have the right.
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mindy,
You are so right. WHAT and WHO gives him that right?
IOh, I forgot GZ said it was God’s plan.
I guess they’re all going to used that.
I wish Godld slap them up side the head. : )
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Lady2soothe, thank you for first reporting this. It was vile, and some with power and authority abuse it to give that power and authority to the words they speak.
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While the person that committed this vile and cruel act is a police officer, to just put the blame on that individual or the police department is not sufficient. This person was emboldened by the community that he serves, perhaps not on the surface, but in private, you can rest assured that there is a lot of hate and distrust for people that do not conform to their standards. Will we as a nation survive long enough to accept that all people have equal rights and deserve to be treated equally? It never ceases to amaze me that we are a nation that, from the claims of many people, is allegedly a Christian Nation, yet so many of those alleged Christian individuals act in a manner that is definitely not according to their own religious scripture…
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Well stated, crustyolemothman.
x2
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x3
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Mothman,
IMHO, no, and this is why — ignorance. Too many people, including law enforcement, lack understanding of civil law, even civil law involving name changes.
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Crustyoldmothman is right, the community sets the standard of what’s acceptable.
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I am in a deep, post-election depression. I wish I could see some reason for hope and optimism – about anything in our society – but I just can’t. And I’m exhausted from trying. So very, very exhausted. My heart is too heavy to bear. Our society isn’t going to get better within the next decade, probably not within my lifetime, and perhaps never. Just look at how our society votes. That’s “us” – and “we’re” an ugly bunch.
😥
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Annie,
I can relate. Illinois just elected a Republican Governor. The last one we had went to prison, and the Democrate Governor after him. I respected Governor Quinn for fighting hard against conceal carry in Illinois, and since he was in office for years without a federal indictment, thought that Illinois citizens would re-elect him.
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Thanks, Xena.
You even managed to get a little smile out of me from that quote. Sorry if it feels like it’s at your expense – but it’s really not. It’s just that my husband grew up in the Chicago area (La Grange), and we sometimes laugh about the “colorful” history of Illinois governors.
But I, too, hated hearing that even Illinois turned to the dark side yesterday and elected a Repugnant for governor.
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Annie, No doubt about it; Illinois leads the country in the state sending the most governors to prison.
I’m familiar with LaGrange. A church I was associated with visited a church in LaGrange. We used to stop off at the pancake restaurant on the corner of Mannheim and Roosevelt after church.
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I’m right there with you Annie. 😦
My spirits were crushed when I heard about the voter turnout in my state, and much of the other states as well. I was hoping the people would come out in droves to vote, so even being disabled, I got myself up at 6:00, and was at my voting site by 6:30, waiting for them to open at 7:00.
Yet, as I watched the news throughout the day, all I saw were “Empty” voting booths, and all of the officials that everyone complained about, have retained their seats.
How can anyone ever condemn another’s actions, or inactions, if they fail to speak out, or even show up to vote?
SMH…..
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Thank you, kindheart. Words cannot express….
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(((Hugs)))
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Thank you again! Hugs back on you!
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I am thoroughly disgusted with most of the election results.
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“What The World Needs Now Is Love”
What the world needs now is love, sweet love.
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No not just for some but for everyone.
Lord we don’t need another mountain;
There are mountains and hillsides
Enough to climb;
There are oceans and rivers
Enough to cross, enough to last
‘Till the end of time.
http://marketingstrategyexpert.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/connecting1.jpg?w=300&h=300
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Xena, would you please make the above heart link appear?
Thanks! 🙂
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I thought it was already there Yahtzee…:) Your heart shines much brighter than any link could project.
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We have a lot of shining hearts here, don’t we, Kindheart(yours included)
This was a link showing a heart made up of community members 🙂
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Hi, yahtzee. I can’t disagree with the sentiment, Yahtzee. I come from that same school of thought.
> However, our society in the USA is very purposefully and steadily aimed in the complete OPPOSITE direction.
> Also, there are NO LONGER enough oceans and rivers (and their associated species of life) that will “last ’til the end of time,” based on the direction we’re headed.
As much as I’ve hung onto the values and goals that formulated my very being, there seems no escaping the fact that those are utterly passe in today’s society. And that is what is breaking my heart right now.
How the heck can we realistically expect to see “love” becoming a factor in our modern day society? I’m just not seeing that as a modern-day or near-future value. I’d love to be convinced, but I’m not willing to just blindly “hope” anymore. I’ll appreciate any help in this regard.
Love you, yahtzee!
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Oh Annie, for every ounce of bad in this world, there are pounds of good that only needs to be uncovered.
I remember the good ole days……..Motown……….Woodstock…….and the fights for equality, civil rights…..the wars………..
But I was younger then, and saw all of it as a way of life, as I trudged through it, on my way to having my own family, and growing older.
Now mind you, at that time, my parents felt the same way we do today! They felt the world was going to hell in a hand basket, and people had lost the ability to care for one another anymore. Our Soldiers were returning home from Vietnam, and being spat on in the streets. My parents were appalled by Woodstock, calling it nothing more than a sick gathering place for drug users. There were wars, wars of color, drugs and civil rights, throughout Detroit, when I grew up there. To my parents………………because of all this………they saw no hope.
Now I am the Parent, and Grandparent. And much like you, I feel very anxious, and disappointed with our society of today. (I feel just like my parents did over 50 years ago) Though the times and problems may change, it seems to affect us more as we age, and our knowledge of government (or lack of) combined with all of the terror issues, civil rights, wars, courts, injustice…………
My point is this dear friend, we will always, generation after generation, face what we think is the impossible to conquer. We will feel depressed, angry, frustrated……………
Until? You see that sweet, innocent smile of a child. Watch a sunrise. Sign a petition for equality. Listen to friend that’s hurting. Try to do at least one genuine good deed a day. Smile at a stranger, and watch the shock turn into warmth. Tune out the news! (I do. I can’t change the elections, so I refuse to let them change me!)
You are full of Love Annie. I see it in what you write, and how much you care.
Please, just look around you.
I work one day a month in my local shelter, and one day in my church, cooking for those that need a meal.
I look around me and I see a very troubled world Annie, but I also see So Much Love!
And I see you…….:)
Love you Annie.
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You are so wise and kind, kindheart!
I guess I’ve probably always had depressive tendencies. I remember when I was young and restless and stressing about world issues – e.g., Vietnam, the nuclear arms race, civil rights, other injustices, etc. – my dad (a doctor who trained in the early 1940s) told me not to lose faith or abandon hope, because you just never know what tremendous improvement might be just around the corner.
For example, he said, when he was young, people routinely died of bacterial illnesses that later became mere nuisances due to the discovery of penicillin. And people were routinely crippled by polio, but then a vaccine was developed that essentially eradicated it.
My dad has moved on to a better place, now. But I can’t count the number of times in my life that I’ve felt despair … and then I’d remind myself, “Remember penicillin!”
Between “penicillin” and the Desiderata poem (how’s that for showing my age?), as well as having supportive people around me, I’ve always managed to find peace after despair, and I reckon I will this time, too. But now I’ll add to my repertoire – being conscious of and contributing to the love and beauty in my immediate environment (and turning off the dang news!) – thanks to you.
Love you back, kindheart.
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My Dear Friend, we are of one mind.
And I love you as a sister. Hold on, and remember what we are about Annie 🙂
When we are told no………we fight for yes!
When we feel depressed, we seek those who understand.
When “I” need strength, ever again, I will remember “Penicillin” (In memory of your Father)
We will not always be strong, but hopefully, we will always have friends as pillars.
I bow to you Annie, and hope you will keep me strong also.
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Oh, Annie. I hear you. I understand.
My heart is breaking also.
And I, too, from you, Annie.
I need to do more than hope.
While it is tempting to give in to exhaustion, I refuse to give up because I will never allow the haters and racists to have even one gleeful moment…I will never allow them to act with no resistance from me. I will never “self” chain my voice nor submit when things seem bleak.
from “Carry It On” lyrics
When you can’t go on any longer,
Take the hand, hand of your brother,
Every victory brings another, Carry it on, carry it on.
“Freedom IS a constant struggle.”
Just as in a football game, advocates for justice, freedom, and equality will sometimes have to deal with interceptions, tackles, missed passes, and fumbles, but the goal is still clear. We WILL have successful touchdown passes and must maintain a strong team spirit and grit to work the ball down the field to MANY future touchdowns!
It’s all about teamwork and knowing how to rotate players in and out for rest and recuperation in order to keep the team strong and successful.
Now more than ever we need to stay in the game and use our abilities to the fullest. We must play the FULL season and not be disheartened when a game is lost.
We have to do it for those who come after us.
Love you too, Annie!
p.s.
Here are some helpful words of wisdom from a tweeter in Ferguson who has been pushing for justice for Michael Brown:
Charles Wade @akacharleswade
Burnout is real. And we have to understand that a great help to this movement is to pace ourselves so we can endure for the long haul.
Know your bandwidth. Know when you’re no longer being effective. It’s ok. Regroup and tag back in.
But you’ll get back everything you’ve invested in the work by way of a better world. I’m sure it sounds cliche but I really believe that.
Even in all this mess, I’ve seen the best in people and it’s inspiring and rewarding.
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Carry It On
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Yahtzee, you’re so amazing and inspiring!
Thank you so very much for your incredibly helpful and rallying response. Your “fight” and energy and caring never cease to amaze me – and you definitely do understand where I was at. (I say “was” because I’m working my way out of it, even if not completely out yet!)
Amen to that, yahtzee. I think I’ve been feeling the need to rotate out for R&R, and it reached a head yesterday, for sure. But I will get my R&R and be back on your team probably sooner rather than later. You’re the best coach I’ve ever known!
Thank you, yahtzee.
🙂
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You are very welcome, Annie. 🙂
Just know that I, too, have needed support and encouragement over the months and have received it from so many people here in our wonderful community.
And, just think of those wonderful times that Xena has offered us refreshment and “refueling” words and articles. I am appreciative of our caring “family” here and the beautiful atmosphere of mutual love and support.
And, Annie, I am glad to hear that you are taking a well-earned R&R. You have contributed SO much here. Thanks for all you do!
Take all the time that you need and please realize you do not need to rush to return here.
Hugs ❤
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Our voices joined together gives me hope.
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