Transgender woman subjected to horrifying verbal abuse on New York subway

Your support helps us to tell the story

Support Now

Find out moreClose

As your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.

Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn't have the resources to challenge those in power.

Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November election

Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

A transgender woman was subjected to a torrent of verbal abuse after a fellow passenger confronted her.

Pearl Love, an outreach social worker for Trans Latina network, was accosted by a woman sitting across from her as she travelled on the New York subway.

“You garbage motherf***er, you a transvestite videotaping me motherf***er,” the woman can be heard shouting.

“Suck my d***” she continues before calling the transgender woman “a f***king homo” and a “gay mother***er”.

She also asks Love, who is originally from Taiwan, “Who are you really under all that make up? Where'd you come from? Are you the Emperor of China?” before saying she is “inappropriate” for her child.

The social worker posted a video of the incident to Facebook, where she wrote that the woman had been abusing her for a period of time before the video starts.

“I ignored her and kept reading my book. When the train got to 86 st she start getting so loud and crazy yelling at me so I started to record her on my phone can- she start getting even louder and start assault me and hit me.”

She also expressed her dismay at the lack of support from fellow passengers.

“It was a crowded train and everyone heard it but no one helped me. Guys acting like nothing happened. For 5 min.”

Love hopes that the video might promote awareness for the abuse that transgender people are subjected to.

“So now you can understand what's happening in my everyday life. That happens all the time. But it's my first time recording it.”

A New York Police spokesperson said that a formal complaint was yet to be filed, though they are aware of the video and it is currently being reviewed.

A separate attack on a transgender woman occurred in February, also on the New York subway. 38-year-old Jennifer Louise Lopez required emergency eye surgery after being punched in the face.