Sixteen-year-old trans teen Jadyn Tkaczyk of Gloucester, Massachusetts was hospitalized after being attacked by a group of former classmates at a party.
Tkaczyk was sent to the hospital with a broken bone under his eye, nerve damage, a head injury, and bruising after the attack on August 30. He was at a party in Dogtown, an abandoned village near Gloucester, when a large group of teens, between 20 and 30, started to attack him.
“One second, I was having fun, the next second, I was on the ground getting my face stomped and beat up,” Tkaczyk told NBC10 Boston. Somehow, he managed to escape, after which he ran into the woods and called the police for help.
The local police chief told NBC10 Boston that they were still unsure whether or not the attack could be classified as a hate crime, but they have appointed a hate crime specialist to the case.
However, Tkaczyk and his mother both believe that it was most likely a hate crime. “They were just saying the F slur over and over and over as they were punching me and stomping me,” Tkaczyk recalled. His mother also explained that he had been bullied by these students for being trans for years.
Tkaczyk was able to recognize several of the attackers as members of the Gloucester High School football team, as he had originally played on the team for only a week or two before having to drop out due to the bullying he experienced.
This attack inspired statements of support from several advocacy groups in the Massachusetts area, including one from MassEquality. Their statement explained that they had been in direct contact with the Tkaczyk family and that they would “work with the schools and community in Gloucester to ensure that they have the resources that they need to combat hate and violence and demand accountability for the actions of those who were responsible for this attack.”
Photo courtesy of social media
