Toledo City Council on Tuesday
unanimously approved a proposal to strengthen the city's hate crime
law to include crimes against transgender people.
The move comes a month after a
well-known local transgender activist was brutally beaten and robbed
in downtown Toledo.
Candice Rose Milligan told
police that her attackers shouted homophobic and transphobic
slurs as they beat her. Milligan's injuries included a broken
mandible, which required wiring her jaw shut.
She told council members that she was
encouraged by its actions and would work for statewide adoption.
Police said last month that they could
not classify the incident as a hate crime because Ohio's hate crime
law does not include gender identity or sexual orientation as a
protected class.
Police have charged Christopher Temple,
20, with robbery to inflict, attempt to inflict, or threaten serious
physical harm on another. Two additional suspects have not been
found.