Tina

I am writing this because sometimes I think I do too good a job at hiding in plain sight, and being invisible – erasing myself – and enhancing my own invisible identity. What is the correct balance between being safe, able to continue my daily patterns, or being a strong upstanding queer who will do what it takes?

The background: I was assaulted at work. I am the tech girl at work, in a small-store retail environment. Three girls entered the store a couple of days previous and had attempted (read: failed) to steal some merchandise using the bathroom to cover their actions, despite the video camera posted over the top of the hallway leading to the bathroom. They tried to drown the security device on the merchandise by drowning – it worked, but took nearly an hour after they left. The night I was working, they returned. We are trained to be aware for signs of insincerity, including someone avoiding my coworkers, avoiding eye contact, making a beeline straight for the bathroom, picking up high-dollar merchandise and using a body or other product to conceal it…in short, we responded in kind. I went back to the bathroom to attempt to interrupt one of the three girls – Blue puffy coat, Black puffy coat, and puffy Vest.

I am a transgender woman. I don’t usually hide ...