A transgender woman was seen in footage shared online confronting an apathetic store owner over a transphobic sign.
In the video, Tiesa Meskis, a city councilor who happens to be trans, engages in a heated discussion with the owner of a Star Wars memorabilia store in Aberdeen, Washington, after seeing an offensive sign that read: "If you are born with a d***, you are not a chick."
At one point in the argument, which took place on Wednesday, August 4, Meskis proclaimed, per the Daily Mail: "Trans women are women. That sign is bulls***."
To which Sucher, owner of Sucher & Sons Star Wars Shop, responded: "You're nuts. I'm telling you that as a man, that's bulls***."
Check out how the argument unfolded here:Per King 5, the small business owner went on to say that he was merely exercising his freedom of speech and that those who do not agree with him are free to make a swift exit.
Meskis, however, wanted Sucher to know just how harmful his words are to the trans community, telling the store owner: "We are people. We are who we are and we all want to be accepted in our community."
But Sucher had little sympathy, responding: "I don't give a s*** about feelings anymore. Do you think I care about some s*** feeling? Absolutely not!"
Ultimately, he refused to take the sign down and insisted that many people love it.
Meskis shared footage of the incident along with a snap of the sign in question to her Facebook page.
She explained in the caption that she used to think the store was "pretty cool, even though the owner had some wild beliefs."
The councilor concluded the post, stating: "We have the right to be who we are and no one gets to belittle us, ever!"
Speaking to the Washington Examiner about the tense exchange, Meskis said that while she agreed that Sucher has every right to exercise his freedom of speech, he could have done it in a way that wasn't directly harmful to the trans community.
She told the paper: "What he wrote there was so demeaning and so dismissive of who I am, who any trans woman is. We are people. We are who we are, and we all want to be accepted in our community."
