Discrimination in Dallas

This past week has been like a roller coaster ride!  I went through a major cancer scare and subsequent surgery on 12/4/12 which put those fears to rest. Through all of that rough ride, my close friend Tegan Marie Smith has been so supportive!  Her late wife Margaret had the same kind of cancer that I thought that I might have and died from it 4 years ago.  Tegan was so informative and such a rock for me during that scary time!  I finally had the chance to meet her in person last week!  She flew into town to visit with her son and daughter-in-law, whom she hasn't seen in a good while. They had a wonderful time!  Her and I had lunch at the Macaroni Grill near Love Field Airport and had a great visit all day long!  I got to see her again on Monday for breakfast and a brief visit before she went to the airport for her flight home to Atlanta. Here's a picture of her and I having Lunch at the Macaroni Grill:

Tegs and I at the Macaroni Grill on 12/7/12

Later on that day she messaged me from the airport to say that her flight was delayed.  When I didn't hear back from her several hours later I began to get pretty worried.  Finally, several hours later I was shocked to read her post that she had been arrested at the airport!  I couldn't believe it!

She said that her plane had been delayed and she and a few people went into the bar that was near the gate and had a couple of beers to wait for the flight to arrive.  When the plane arrived, they all lined up to get on and she boarded the plane and sat down.  She said that a gate person came in and sat behind her and said that she needed to come with her, so Tegan got up and followed her out of the plane.  When she got outside of the plane there were several Dallas Police Officers waiting to arrest and handcuff her!

I'm not going to provide any of the detail that she told me due to what I hope will be an impending lawsuit against the airline and police.  All I will say is that they had no grounds to arrest her and that she was profiled and harassed from the beginning because she is a transwoman. 

They handcuffed her and took her back to the police station, where they harassed her for several hours.  Then they released her without charges.  They put her into a cab to the nearest hotel, which cost her over $200.00 for the night.

I cannot believe how terrible she was treated here in Dallas!  She is such a kind and nice person and does not deserve this kind of treatment!  I hope that the people who abused her receive their just comeuppance!  She is understandably traumatized by the whole thing!  I know that she is strong and will be able to rise above this quickly and gain justice for the terrible deeds done against her!