TRANS WOMAN ATTACKED NEAR BLOOR & LANDSDOWNE

Police are asking for the public’s cooperation in the search for a man who allegedly sexually assaulted and stabbed a transgendered sex worker in the Bloor and Lansdowne area on Jul 26 at 3am.

Det Const Marco Ricciardi says police are not treating the assault as a hate crime but that they believe the same assailant may be responsible for previous attacks.

“The suspect may have struck at least once before,” says Ricciardi. “We don’t have another victim, but I have the possibility of there being another offence. We want the public to know it’s okay to come forward, that you’re not the only person this has happened to.”

The suspect is described in a police bulletin as a white male, 20 to 25 years old, five-foot nine-inches tall, 130 pounds, with a slim build, short brown curly or wavy hair and several days growth of beard. He was wearing a black hooded sweater, yellow T-shirt and blue jeans and was carrying an iPod with white ear buds at the time of the assault.

Police are combing through hours of surveillance video in the hopes of finding a picture of the suspect, Ricciardi says.

“Hopefully we can find someone who remembers seeing the individual,” he says. “We need the public’s help in the area.”

Rob Salerno is a playwright and journalist whose writing has appeared in such publications as Vice, Advocate, NOW and OutTraveler.

Keep Reading

The new generation of gay Conservative sellouts

OPINION: Melissa Lantsman’s and Eric Duncan’s refusals to call out their party’s transphobia is a betrayal of the LGBTQ2S+ community

Over 300 anti-LGBTQ2S+ bills have been introduced this year. This doesn’t mean we should panic

OPINION: While it’s important to watch out for threats, not all threats are created equally. Some of these bills will die a natural death

Xtra’s top LGBTQ2S+ stories of the year

The best and brightest—even most bewildering—stories from a back catalogue brimming with insight

Elon Musk and Texas attorney general Ken Paxton are suing Media Matters. Here’s why queer and trans people should care

OPINION: When politicians and the rich leverage the power of the state to quell dissent, we all lose