*This article was originally posted to author’s blog, and a similar version of this article was posted on AfterEllen.
On May 26th, vocal lesbian feminist and popular YouTube vlogger, Magdalen Berns, posted on Twitter “I just got beaten up by a random bloke on the street.” Fans were concerned that the attack was potentially a gay bashing, as she is routinely threatened online.
Luckily somewhat of a guardian angel jumped in to defend her, a man, who took the worst of the blows. Berns wrote, “He got knocked out trying to stop this lunatic and possibly saved my life in the process.”
According to Berns, an ambulance and police came to the scene,
and there is “good CCTV footage” of the incident, so she’s hoping they will catch her attacker.
A year ago, Berns revealed she’d been suffering from a brain tumor and would be getting brain surgery. After surgery, she kept fans updated on her recovery. People have expressed concern about the injuries to her head.
Leaders in the lesbian community, such as fellow vlogger, Arielle Scarcella, have shown their support. Although the two vloggers often play at disagreements, they both prioritize an environment where women support one another and engage in open dialogue.
Many in the community are just now learning of the news and are
disappointed that—as is so often the case with lesbians and more
specifically ‘butch’ lesbians—there has been no coverage of this attack in
“LGBTQ” media.
Thus far, there have been no further updates about the attack. The assailant is still at large.
جوليا ديانا — Julia Diana Robertson, is an award-winning author, and a contributor for Huffington Post and AfterEllen—A first generation Arab-American, who grew up between worlds, and currently resides somewhere in the middle with a bird’s eye view.