Trans Filmmakers Attacked While Making Film on Anti-Trans Violence

A pair of transgender filmmakers told police they were pepper-sprayed in the New York City borough of Queens by a couple hurling slurs.

Norma Ureiro and Bianey Garcia were shooting a documentary in Jackson Heights about violence against transgender women when a man and woman accosted and attacked them, according to the New York Daily News.

Garcia said on Twitter the couple followed them around and shouted gay slurs.

"Doing a documentary about trans violence & police harassment My sister Norma Ureiro and I we just got pepper sprayed at 82nd St & Roosevelt Av by a transphobic woman," Garcia wrote on Twitter.

"She offended us by calling us fucking fagots, fucking whores ect. (Enough is enough)"

It started with the assailants hurling insulting terms, but as Ureiro and Garcia approached other members of their crew, police say the woman, Paola Custodio, sprayed them with a liquid.

While police have not conclusively determined what was sprayed, Ureiro and Garcia say it was pepper spray.

"This time it was only pepper spray but next time it could be a knife or a gun," Ureiro, 43, said at a press conference.

Ureiro and Garcia are affiliated with Latinx causes in New York City such as Make the Road New York.

"This weekend while most celebrated #Stonewall50, Bianey and Norma were attacked for being Trans," Make the Road New York said in a statement on Twitter. "This violence must stop! We need to protect our Trans, GNC and non binary community! #WalkingWhileTrans is not a crime."

The attack sparked outrage in New York City.

"We condemn this transphobic attack against @MakeTheRoadNY organizers Bianey Garcia and Norma Ureiro on Pride Weekend," the New York Legal Defense Fund said in a statement on Twitter. "This is a reminder that for many in the #LGBTQ community, they are still fighting for equality."