And if you really wanted to be an ally, you would make the effort to do at least some research on your own. Not make demands on the oppressed to educate you.

this idea that there is too much emphasis on the officer and the reporter’s commentary, is, i’m afraid, ridiculous. both are supposed to be impartial parties, who are charged with the protecting and educating the public. if they are biased, then how can i, a vulnerable, minority in seattle expect them to come to my aid? how can i be sure that they will protect and serve me? no, cara’s comments were not only astute, but important. these little things, these comments contribute to a greater view of transpeople being less than. less than worthy, less than human, and so on. it is no accident that the teen who attacked the transexual woman resorted to stereotyping in, i assume, an attempt to elicit the sympathies of the police officer. male identity is challenged by the very presence of transwomen, to think that the pronoun usage is irrelivant is to miss the undercurrent, and the motives of those involved. these things MUST be examined.

The person, who told police she is in the process of changing her name and appearance to a woman

From the 1st linked article the Cara quoted above. Looks to me that she identified as female and told the officers such.

And what does being a man have to do with admitting when you are wrong?

There is nothing NOTHING in the links provided or the comments that indicates that this officer did anything wrong. The victim was interviewed, the actor identified, and the appropriate charges filed, including the all important hate crime charge. There is nothing indicating that the victim identified as female, and that the officer deliberatly ignored that. Please, if I’m wrong in that assesment, give me a link! I am man enough to admit when I’m wrong, but it looks like that this police officer did his job, identified the actor, filed the appropriate charges, and you are signalling him out for incorrect pronoun usage!

As a police officer, I am the first to admit that training in interacting with the transgendered/gay community is seriously lacking, but that should start to improve. As a liberal, I want information on how to further improve interactions with oppressed segments of the population. As a front line supervisor, I am in a position to suggest ideas to the guys in charge, and educate the officers in my charge on how to properly interact. Throw me a bone here, help me help you!

Fuck yes. People say “kids are cruel,” but children learn cruelty and hate. Children who see the people in their lives solving problems with violence learn that “violence never solves anything” is a lie. Some will have to work hard to unlearn hate and violence; others won’t bother.

For all that this is depressing as hell and makes me realise just how lucky I am that my face and body match my stated gender pretty well, I’m glad for people like you and Renee who keep an eye out and spread the word. Thank you.

1. Ignorance is not an excuse. Never is.

2. When a person is in front of you describing herself as a woman, it exceedingly easy to figure out which pronouns that person would like you to use. No one has problems calling me “she” when I tell them that I am a woman. When the person doing so is trans instead of cis, it should make absolutely no difference. The officer made the active choice to ignore the fact that the victim was identifying herself as a woman. Period. Which means that yes, he did deliberately misgender her. He knew better, because as it even says in the police report, she told him better.