Badpuppy Gay Today

Monday, 02 June 1997

Savagely assaulted by six security guards at the posh Peninsula Hotel, Terri Nicole Hess, Chairperson and CEO of Dechtar, one of the world's major adult entertainment/ mail order companies, has been handcuffed and brutally beaten, according to communications on business wires. She has had to seek medical treatment.

The reason for the cruel assault, Ms. Hess believes, centers on the fact that she is transgendered. The Peninsula Hotel is described by Beverly Hills socialites as "an exclusive gettaway" for large numbers of Hollywood celebrities and corporate exeucutives, and where Ms. Hess has been a frequent guest.

"I was viciously assaulted by six security guards who beat me with their fists and kicked me mercilessly because I used the ladies restroom," explained Ms. Hess. "Within minutes the guards had kicked and beaten me, handcuffed me and forced me out of public view to a secluded garage area of the Hotel. As the garage door was closing the chief of security said, 'no one will ever know what happens to you in this room.' "

The beating Ms. Hess endured continued without cease until Beverly Hills police officers appeared on the scene.

When her rescue had transpired, Beverly Hills police were told that Ms. Hess had assaulted them, which Ms. Hess denounced as "a lie devised to cover up their unconscienable actions," she said. "I have been a guest of the Hotel on numerous occasions because I prefer the privacy and intimacy of its surroundings. I would never contemplate initiating such behavior."

"While I am saddened by the whole affair, I will not take this kind of discriminatory abuse passively," she continued. "The simple truth of the matter is that I was attacked because I am a transsexual. The individuals who attacked me, and the Hotel which has condoned their behavior, were acting out of their personal bias against me," she said.

"This assault should serve as a warning to others who have chosen a different lifestyle that you are not safe from discriminatory violence, even if you are a professional businesswoman or a guest at an exclusive Hotel or Club in Beverly Hills," explained Ms. Hess.

The office of the District Attorney is presently investigating the beating. Ms. Hess has announced plans to file a lawsuit sometime in the following weeks.

Ms. Hess' company, Dechtar, was founded in 1989. Under her leadership it has become North America's largest advertising company specializing in adult entertainment and adult mail-order industries.

DechTar is now selling common stock as part of a $24 million public offering.

Ms. Hess has enjoyed a successful career as a model. Most recently she posed as the first transsexual subject painted by the renouned erotic artist Olivia De Berardinis.

She maintains a personal e-mail address which can be reached at nicole@dechtar.com