A woman says she was assaulted by a prominent LGBTQ+ activist during a recent New York City protest after questioning his support for transgender medical procedures for children, according to video she provided of the alleged encounter.
Christiane Torello was counter-protesting outside Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan on Nov. 5 when she says Jay Walker, president of Gays Against Guns and a 2026 NYC Pride Grand Marshal, elbowed her in the chest.
Walker was among demonstrators protesting the hospital’s September decision to stop providing transgender treatments to minors as part of its resolution of a Department of Justice investigation into youth gender-transition procedures.
“The hospital is no longer providing any type of gender-affirming care for minors, including surgeries, puberty blockers and hormones,” Torello told Fox News Digital. “There’s always a group of individuals who go to these protests to show their discomfort and displeasure with the hospital stopping these procedures because they want the children to transition. I usually go there in opposition to them. I support the hospital’s decision to stop providing that care. I always go by myself and ask questions.”
In footage she recorded, Torello can be heard asking Walker why he wanted to “have penises in the locker room” as he shouted and walked away from her on a sidewalk. Walker then stopped, drew back his elbow and allegedly struck her in the chest before repeatedly yelling at her to “get away from me.”
Torello said demonstrators frequently try to block her path or push signs toward her face, but she described this confrontation as more violent than previous rallies she has attended.
“I’m usually followed around the protest by two or three people. They block me and put signs in my face, which is fine because they’re allowed to do that. But this time, it became particularly violent,” Torello said.
“When I asked the organizer of the protest, Jay Walker, what size dongs he’d like in the girls’ locker room, he didn’t have an answer. They never have answers to those questions. They don’t like to talk about it,” she continued.
Torello said Walker shouted slurs at her while leaving the protest, prompting her to follow him and ask additional questions about his comments.
She accused Walker of striking her in the chest with his elbow and said she believed he meant to hit her in the face but had “pretty bad aim.”
“As we were walking, he stopped in front of me, wound up his elbow and blasted me in the chest,” she said. “He’s about 6’5″ and I’m 5’5″, so I’m pretty sure he intended to hit me in the face but had pretty bad aim and hit me in the chest.”
Following the alleged assault, Torello continued down the street behind Walker.
The video shows the two exchanging insults and profanity as they walked.
Walker called her “psychotic,” “scumbag,” a “garbage person” and a “stalker,” while Torello accused him of being a “woman abuser.” At one point, he allegedly lunged toward her. She challenged him to “do it again” and said she would share the footage on social media.
“I’m so glad I got it on camera,” she shouted at Walker.
Torello told Fox News Digital that she reported the encounter to the New York City Police Department, though she said she was not confident prosecutors would file charges.
“I want to press charges because I feel like New York doesn’t do anything when it comes to a lot of violence,” she said. “But this is a different type of violence. I have a First Amendment right to be there and peacefully protest. I wasn’t hitting anybody. Do I ask questions that may be annoying or triggering? Sure. But that’s the extent of what I do. That doesn’t warrant me getting hit, elbowed or punched.”
“This is actually the second time a man has put his hands on me at a protest,” she continued. “The first happened about a month and a half ago. There were two NYPD detectives in front of that other protest who watched me get hit, and they didn’t even talk to me. I asked them if they could direct me somewhere, and they wouldn’t say one word to me. I had to figure it out on my own. I filed a report, and nothing happened to that man either.”
It remains unclear whether police intend to make any arrests related to the alleged assault.
The NYPD and Walker’s organization, Gays Against Guns NY, did not respond to Fox News Digital’s multiple requests for comment.
“I just really hope this brings some awareness and puts pressure on the NYPD to do something, because they don’t do anything at all,” Torello said.
