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Tiesa Meskis: Video of trans councilwoman berating shop owner over transphobic sign goes viral

Tiesa Meskis wanted to let the store owner know his sign was demeaning to transpeople, but the owner simply did not care

A transgender councilwoman and a Star Wars merchandise shop owner got into a wild confrontation over an allegedly transphobic sign. Identified as Tiesa Meskis, the councilwoman got into a shouting match with store owner Don Sucher, arguing for five whole minutes over a sign she claimed was offensive outside the store Sucher & Sons Star Wars Shop in Washington's Aberdeen. The incident reportedly took place on Thursday, July 5, over a sign on Sucher's store, that reads: "If you are born with a d**k, you are not a chick." The loud argument filmed in a video shows Meskis yelling: "Trans women are women. That sign is bulls**t," as Sucher shoots back: "You're nuts. I'm telling you that as a man, that's bulls**t."

Local channel King 5 reported that the store owner claimed he was exercising his freedom of speech, and if somebody didn't agree with his views they were welcome to leave his shop. News of this verbal duel comes shortly after CeCe Telfer, a transwoman, was barred from US Olympic trials for not meeting hormonal requirements. Popular trans activist and comic author Chris Chan, a transgender woman, was also arrested for repeatedly raping his elderly mother with dementia. In 2020, Elisa Crespo had also become the first trans woman to run for the Bronx City Council in New York. As for Meskis, she had quite a hard time trying to make Sucher see reason.

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Who is Tiesa Meskis?

Formerly called Nathan Kennedy, the transwoman and Aberdeen city council member is a partner at Holistic Therapies NorthWest, reveals her LinkedIn profile. Meskis describes herself as: "I have been working with just about every aspect of computing and networking since 1988. Over the years I have worked for myself, small companies and larger corporations covering a vast variety of IT and business tasks."

The councilwoman found the sign outside Sucher's Star Wars memorabilia business demeaning and wanted to let the owner know it was hurtful. "We are people. We are who we are and we all want to be accepted in our community," Meskis told Sucher, who replied that he simply did not care how the sign made people feel. "I don't give a s**t about feelings anymore," he said, adding: "Do you think I care about some s**t feeling? Absolutely not!"

Sucher gets support too

While Meskis told local outlet King 5 she has received support in the wake of the fight going viral, Sucher isn't far behind either. Claiming he still has the sign up in his shop, he shared with the channel how people have been supportive of him in the battle. Speaking to the Washington Examiner, Meskis said that she agrees Sucher has the right to place whatever signs he wants and express himself, but she just wants him to do it in a less offensive way to people of the transgender community.

"What he wrote there was so demeaning and so dismissive of who I am, who any trans woman is," Meskis told the outlet, adding: "We are people. We are who we are, and we all want to be accepted in our community." Sucher, who owns the store located at 413 E Wishkah St, in Aberdeen, is quite proud of his shop filled to the brim with merchandise from the popular science fiction franchise. He told the local news channel that Meskis had allegedly planned demonstrations outside his shop too, but all such protests have since been reportedly called off.