By Jeremy Walsh
Friday, November 27, 2009 4:11 PM EST
Two Woodside men have been indicted on hate crime charges for allegedly assaulting a transgender woman in Jackson Heights this spring, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Gilberto Ortiz, 32, and Trinidad Tapia, 19, were arraigned Friday on seven counts, including assault as a hate crime, attempted assault, weapon possession and harassment. If convicted, each faces up to 15 years in prison, Brown said. The men were released on their own recognizance and ordered to return to court Jan. 28....
....According to Silverman, the defendants repeatedly called Mora gay slurs and did not stop beating her until a passing motorist threatened to call police. Both men were arrested that night and charged with assault and weapons possession, authorities said. They were released on their own recognizance after being arraigned....
....The indictment makes the attack on Mora the second against a transgender person in Queens to be prosecuted as a hate crime this year. On July 8, two men were arrested and charged with hate crimes on suspicion of throwing rocks and beer bottles at a transgender woman in St. Albans while shouting gay slurs.
The allegedly shouted slurs were the basis for the hate crime charges. State law allows for an attack to be prosecuted as a hate crime if it was based on the victim’s perceived sexual orientation, but it does not include transgender individuals.
A bill that would amend the law to include gender identity has passed the state Assembly, but has not made any legislative progress in the state Senate since February.
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