100,000 People Call on McDonald’s in Response to Transgender Assault

by Michael Jones 

  

More than 120,000 people have joined a viral petition campaign calling on McDonald’s and Maryland authorities to take action over the severe beating of a transgender woman at a franchise of the fast-food chain near Baltimore, Maryland.

The assault, captured on film by a McDonald’s employee, shows 22-year-old Chrissy Lee Polis viciously attacked by several customers while McDonald’s employees watch. Polis is punched, knocked to the ground, dragged across the floor by her hair, and kicked in the face until she appears to experience a seizure.

To date, only one McDonald’s employee has been held responsible, with the company continuing to say that it’s investigating the situation and “will take appropriate action as necessary.”

The attack has caused widespread outrage, with hundreds of people attending a vigil and rally outside of the Maryland McDonald’s to protest anti-transgender violence. In response to the attack, Adrian Leigh Cowan, a Baltimore resident, also launched a campaign on Change.org, the fastest-growing online platform for social change.

Cowan’s Change.org petition calls on McDonald’s to hold all employees accountable for standing by while the attack on Polis took place, and challenges the fast-food giant to change workplace policies to create a safe environment for transgender customers and employees. It is now one of the most popular petitions ever on Change.org, with more than 110,000 signatures. (To see updated signature totals, click here). An additional petition campaign focused on workplace protections for transgender customers and employees,started by Nikolas Sakurai, is also gaining attention.

“This campaign has clearly struck a national chord, with more than 100,000 people viscerally upset that employees of a company could just stand idly by while an attack against an innocent person takes place,” said Eden James, Director of Organizing for Change.org. “McDonald’s now has the opportunity to take this tragic incident and turn it into a teachable moment by holding all employees accountable, and taking a good look at how their own corporate policies fail to foster the safety of transgender employees and customers.”

According to the Human Rights Campaign’s “2011 Corporate Equality Index,” McDonald's does not include gender identity or gender expression in its anti-discrimination policies, nor does the company require employees to go through diversity trainings that cover the subject of gender identity and gender expression.

In addition, the attack on Polis at this Maryland franchise is not the first time McDonald’s has been embroiled in anti-transgender harassment and discrimination. In 2009, a 17-year-old transgender woman applied for a position as a Shift Manager or Crew Leader at a McDonald’s in Orlando. In response to her application, a McDonald’s manager called this woman and left a threatening voicemail saying, “You will not get hired. We do not hire fa*gots.”

“McDonald’s owes it to its customers and employees to make sure that these instances don’t fit a pattern of anti-transgender harassment and discrimination,” said James. “More than 100,000 people believe that it’s time for the company to show real leadership on this issue, and ensure a zero tolerance policy for discrimination based on gender identity and expression.”

Photo credit: nayukim

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.