“I don’t judge you guys.”

This incident of street harassment happened at about 8 in the morning on public transit. I was with my partner, a trans-woman (I’m a ciswoman). We had stopped at a coffee shop while waiting for the bus. We sat at the coffee bar at the window. While we were drinking our coffee, this man who was obviously high on some sort of drug, started pointing and waving, trying to get our attention. We ignored him, finished our coffee and caught the bus. We sat near the back. The man who had been gawking got on the bus and sat across from us. He immediately tried to engage us in conversation.

“Hey, I’ve seen you two around,” he slurred. “What’s up?”

We answered in monosyllables, trying to subtly let him know that we weren’t interested in talking.

He kept at it, talking, trying to introduce himself. We kept trying to politely give him the brush-off. Finally, he reached over and touched my leg (I was wearing patterned tights and a knee-length skirt). My partner and I both assertively told him to back off and keep his hands to himself. He laughed and reached over and touched my leg again. I pushed his hand away and reached for my umbrella. “Look buddy, I have a big stick here and I know how to use it. So back the hell off,” I said.

He leaned back in his seat and laughed. “It’s ok,” he said. “I don’t judge you guys.”

– Margaret

Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada

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