GA Cop Guilty of Transphobia… So What?
A Georgia cop has been found guilty of discrimination against a trans woman, but does that actually mean anything?
by Aly Gibbs
Let’s talk about accepting the bare minimum.
On October 20, at the Tucker-Reid H. Cofer Library in Tucker, Georgia, transgender woman Sasha Swinson was verbally accosted by DeKalb County Police Officer G.A. Weaver for using the women’s restroom. According to Swinson, after she returned from using the library restroom, Weaver told her that she would have to use the men’s restroom or the family restroom instead. When Swinson told Weaver that she regularly uses the women’s restroom at the library, he responded, “But you’re not a woman. That’s obvious.”
Swinson claims that, after some back and forth, Weaver became agitated and threatened to arrest her, saying, “You should be thanking me for not taking you in right now.”
He was, of course, wrong. In 2023, DeKalb County passed a non-discrimination ordinance that specifically prohibited discrimination against trans people, among other typically protected categories. Last year, the city of Tucker passed its own non-discrimination ordinance using similar language. Swanson violated no laws or codes by using the women’s restroom, while Weaver clearly violated the non-discrimination rules of the city of Tucker and DeKalb County.
After the altercation, Swinson emailed the library to let them know what had happened. They apologized for the incident and forwarded the information Swinson provided to the police department, whose internal affairs unit contacted Swinson shortly thereafter, and met with her in person on October 24. They assured her that they would investigate the allegations against Weaver.
DeKalb County local news outlet Decaturish reported on Monday that the investigation had come to a close, and that a copy of the findings provided to them by the DKPD stated that Weaver was found to have discriminated against Swinson. The summary said, “[The] investigation disclosed sufficient evidence to clearly prove the allegations made in the complaint … An investigative report has been prepared and placed in the employee’s Internal Affairs file.”
According to Rough Draft Atlanta, Weaver was “issued violations regarding professional image, body worn camera, off-duty employment, and duty to read/understand/comply with orders,” per a memo from DeKalb County Police Sgt. Joel T. Marshall. According to Marshall, however, DKPD’s IA department is an “administrative fact-finding unit” that’s “not involved with any disciplinary action.”
Everybody seems pleased with the results of the investigation. Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality (an LGBTQ advocacy group who helped draft DeKalb County’s non-discrimination ordinance), said, “This shows that the system worked the way it should. Hopefully, the practical effect will be increased attention to proper training.”
Swinson herself said, “I'm not sure exactly what practical effects this will have, but it is certainly good news.”
Meanwhile, DKPD Public Information Officer Blaine Clark said, “The DeKalb County Police Department will continue expanding our training programs to ensure our officers are equipped to serve every individual with fairness, empathy, and professionalism.”
So I guess I’m the only one who isn’t tallying this verdict up in the W column.
Here’s my take: I don’t think that what amounts to a meaningless note in Weaver’s personnel file constitutes a success. It seems unlikely to me that this will have any lasting repercussions for him or anybody else at DKPD. I have a hard time believing that Weaver was simply uninformed, and that a few extra sensitivity training sessions will iron out his personal bigotry.
It’s 2025, folks. Transgender people have been at the center of the conservative culture wars for, at a minimum, five full years now. I think it’s reasonable to assume that most people have some very basic understanding of the existence of trans people and how to treat them normally, which means that anybody who can’t probably knows exactly what they’re doing. In the case of G.A. Weaver, who has likely been through sensitivity training provided by the Georgia Public Safety Training Center to the DKPD for years now according to Clark, there’s no doubt in my mind that his bigotry was both informed and intentional.
When she was first interviewed by the media at the start of DKPD’s investigation, Swinson said she didn’t want Weaver to lose his job or be punished. She simply wanted people to take note of the behavior and change it. To my mind, though, there’s not a lot of room in this world to change the minds of deliberately discriminatory people. If there is, I certainly don’t want to prioritize their personal growth over the safety of marginalized people. I would rather ensure they don’t have authority over strangers.
To quote David Lynch: Fix your hearts or die.
Aly Gibbs (She/They), formerly Alyssa Steinsiek, is a trans writer who reports on news important to the queer community.
