Austin transgender woman Christi Long has supported herself by working as a drag queen known as Christi Foxx Paris. Last Sunday she was raped and beaten with a hammer after she refused to have sex with a man she thought was a friend.

I can’t help feeling that – because I’m trans, I’m less valuable.

--Long

Just because you’re turned down by a transsexual woman, does not give you reason to beat her in the back of the head with a hammer.

I said ‘no.’ I pushed him off of me. I raised my voice. I got really loud and I got deep with my voice. I wanted to have a powerful voice because I wanted to scare him out of my house.

I asked him to leave several times. He wouldn’t. He wouldn’t leave my house, and he told me he wouldn’t leave until he was done

--Long

I started to get up and whenever I started to get up, he goes, ‘If you get up, I’m going to smash your face in,’ and he’s holding that hammer.

--Long

Long says that she is not clear on how many times she was struck by the hammer, but her injuries required 12 staples to the back of her head.

I started waking up and I started realizing all these things that just happened to me,. I told myself, “I gotta get out of here or else I’m gonna die."

--Long

Eventually Long woke up, ran to the kitchen to grab a knife for defense and then ran out the door, stark naked. Her plan was to run to a neighbor's house, but that plan changed when she saw her attacker's car. She ran to the car and slashed one of the tires. When she heard a noise, she ran to her backyard and hid behind a fence until she saw him leave.

"I went back inside – he had my phone, the hammer. I freaked out." Long purposefully set off her security alarm to alert the police – whom, she said, didn’t take her as “seriously as I’d have liked,” at least not at first. She was taken to the emergency room, but it wasn’t until she called victim services that she learned SAFE – a local organization that helps survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence – is the only place in Austin currently providing sexual assault forensic exams (aside from University of Texas).

All he’s done is empowered me,. He’s going to make me stop him from doing this to someone else… and that’s the important thing.

No matter what you identify as, you need to come forward if somebody sexually assaults you. You need to contact law enforcement.

Whenever you say ‘no,’ no means no and it should always mean no.

--Long

A police report has been filed with APD for rape and aggravated assault.

There is a GoFundMe page if you would like to help Long with her medical, legal and living expeses.