Trans woman feels 'targeted' after vehicle windows again smashed

Photo: Scarlett Rayla

A Kamloops woman says she feels targeted after her vehicle, which sports a number of Pride stickers, has had its windows smashed for the second time in a matter of months.

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Photo: Scarlett Rayla Photo: Scarlett Rayla

A trans Kamloops woman says she feels like she is being targeted and attacked after finding the windows on her vehicle, which is decorated with Pride stickers, smashed for the second time in a matter of months.

Scarlett Rayla said she has lived in her neighbourhood for six years and hasn’t had an issue with vandalism until recently, after she decided to put the rainbow-coloured stickers on her vehicle.

“I honestly feel it’s because I have a lot of Pride stickers and I’m a trans person,” Rayla said.

“I feel that I’m being targeted now.”

Rayla told Castanet Kamloops she noticed the back window of her vehicle had been smashed on March 4. A photo she took of the damage shows pieces of a rainbow-coloured Pride sticker lying among the bits of glass covering the ground behind her vehicle.

Rayla said another window on her vehicle was also broken a couple of months ago. She said nothing was stolen in either incident, despite having some easily recognizable items of value inside the vehicle.

“This is just literally somebody walking up to my vehicle and damaging it for the purpose of damaging it,” she said.

Kamloops RCMP Cpl. Crystal Evelyn said in a statement that officers received a report of mischief to a vehicle on March 4, in which a rear window was smashed.

“The same vehicle was vandalized in January,” Evelyn said.

She said anyone who may have witnessed the incident or has information that might help to identify a suspect is asked to contact the Kamloops RCMP detachment.

Rayla said she is proud of who she is, and the stickers “show other people who don’t have the confidence like I do to be out and about in society that we’re here, and they’re not alone.”

However, she said it’s getting “really stressful and difficult."

“I'm trying to embrace who I am and be healthy in life," Rayla said. "And now I feel like I'm being targeted for it."

She said the costs have started to add up, especially as a single mom to a 16-year-old.

Rayla said she knows quite a few people in the trans community who have experienced discrimination, adding it's not the first time she's faced hateful incidents or comments. She said she has heard trans health care providers across Canada have received an increased amount of hate mail in recent times.

“We do face challenges and things like that here in Kamloops," she said.

"It's not as bad as I thought it would have been, considering the size of Kamloops, but it's frustrating."

Rayla launched a GoFundMe page to help cover her costs for repairing the smashed window, the rental car she used on an interim basis, and the purchase of a dash cam to help catch the vandals should they return. She is asking for people who are not part of the 2SLGBTQPIA+ community to donate — to send a message that hatred is not welcome in Kamloops.

Alyssa Christianson, president of the Kamloops Pride Society, said she had heard about what happened to Rayla's vehicle.

Christianson said she believes discriminatory incidents are largely underreported in Kamloops, because it's often very difficult for someone to come forward and report something that’s so personal.

She said it’s important queer people take care of their mental well-being in the wake of experiencing, or hearing about hateful acts, explaining when violent or discriminatory incidents happen, it has a large impact on the entire queer community.

“When others in the community hear of these things happening, even if it doesn't happen to them, there's a huge pressure to hide your identity from the rest of the world,” Christianson said.

“It leaves people feeling unsafe in their own community, in their own neighbourhood, and that can be anything from feeling in danger to just feeling sad or angry, or feeling disappointed in the community that these things are happening so close to home.”

Editor's note: Due to the sensitive nature of topics covered in this story, anyone in need of support is encouraged to reach out for help. 2SLGBTQPIA+ community mental health resources can be found on the Kamloops Pride Society’s website, and the Trans Lifeline, a Canadian crisis hotline, is available here for those looking for peer support.