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Violence Against Lesbians and Gays
Reaches Record High in 1987
"Creature Patrol"Defendants Face
Court Date During Pride Week
Anti-gay harassment and violence remained a
widespread and critical problem in 1987,
according to a report released on June 7 by the
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force fNGLTF).
A record high of 7,008
incidents were reported
to NGLTF from across
the United States, as
compared to 4,946
incidents reported in
1986. Directed against
persons because they
arc lesbian or gay or
perceived to be so,
these incidents
included verbal
harassment,
intimidation, assault,
police abuse,
vandalism, arson,
bomb threats and
murder. The reported
violence was
perpetrated by lone
individuals, gangs and
organized hate groups,
and occurred in a
variety of settings-on
the street, in school, on
campus, in jail and
prison, and even in the
home.
Documented by 64 groups in 32 states and the
District of Columbia, and by the National
Gay/Lesbian Crisisline, the statistics gathered for
last year account for oily a very small fraction of
the actual total. Low rates of reporting by
victims and the lack of systematic data collection
throughout most of the U.S. prevent a
measurement of the problem's full scope. While
incidents reported in 1987 are 42% higher than in
1986, it is unclear to what extent the rise reflect
an increase in victimization or an increase in
reporting or both.
"While our repot does not claim to measure
the full extent of anti-gay/lesbian harassment and
violence in 1987, available data clearly
demonstrate that the problem continues to be
severe," said Kevin Berrill, Director of NGLTFs
Anti-violence Project. "These episodes occur at
a time of widespread attacks against members of
the Arab, Asian, Black, Hispanic, Jewish, and
Native American communities. Regardless of
the group targeted, any attack motivated by
bigohy is intended to violate and isolate not just
the victim but all those who are different."
The NGLTF report also highlighted violence
surveys completed in 1987 at Pennsylvania State
University, Rutgers University, and in Vermont,
Maryland and elsewhere. All surveys showed
high rates of victimization, and provided
additional evidence of the pervasiveness of anti
gay violence.
Anti-gay/lesbian attacks reported to NGLTF
for 1987, included the following:
•On September 13, in Long Beach, California,
three young men assaulted a gay man with
AIDS, breaking his hip and causing other
injuries.
•On July 12, in San Francisco, California, a
heterosexual male tourist was stabbed to death
because he was mistakenly perceived to be gay
by his assailant
•On January 17, in Shelby, North Carolina,
several men linked by officials to the White
Patriot Party entered a gay-oriented adult
bookstore and shot five men, killing three.
According to an informant, the killings were
intended to "avenge Yahweh on homosexuals".
•On March 17, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
a man brutally assaulted a lesbian at a local bar
after she told him her sexual orientation.
•On October 6, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, three
youths wielding Chinese "throwing stars"
stormed into a gay bar and assaulted patrons.
More than one-third of the organizations
reporting to NGLTF noted that anti-gay/lesbian
violence was more frequent in 1987 than in 1986,
including the Philadelphia Lesbian and
Gay Task Force, which received a 39% increase
in violence reports. The New York City Gay and
Lesbian Anti-violence
Yojcct, a gay victim
issistance agency, saw
14% more clients in
1987, and San
Francisco's
Community United
Against Violence
(CUAV) reported a
14% increase in anti
gay violence victims
seeking services.
Most of the groups
reporting to NGLTF
indicated that fear and
hatred associated with
ADS had contributed
to the problem of anti
gay violence in 1987:
15% (1,042) of all
incidents reported for
last year, and 5% (40)
of all physical
assaults, involved
verbal reference to
ADS by the
perpetrators or
were directed against persons with AIDS.
In recent months, anti-gay and lesbian
violence has been the subject of a major National
Institute of
Justice (NU) study of bias-motivated violence,
completed in October of 1987 and has been
addressed in legislation passed overwhelmingly
by the U.S. House of Representatives.
The October, 1987, NU study concluded that
"homosexuals arc probably the most frequent
victims of hate violence today". The Hate
Crimes Statistics Act (HR 3193) passed the
House of Representatives on May 18,1988. A
companion bill awaits action in the Senate. The
bill mandates federal collection of statistics on
violence motivated by prejudice based at "race,
religion, homosexuality or heterosexuality, or
ethnicity". H.R. 3193 is the first piece of federal
legislation to pass either body of Congress which
favorably addressed an issue of specific concern
to the gay/lesbian community.
NGLTF urges all victims of anti-gay/lesbian
harassment and violence to contact local anti
violence projects where they exist or the National
Gay/Lesbian Crisisline at (800) 221-7044 or
(212) 807-6016 within New York State.
The Atlanta Police Department's
attempt to clean up Cypress Street in
Midtown, dubbed the "Creature Patrol"
by participating officers, will itself come
under scrutiny as two men arrested on
questionable charges June 2nd begin the
fight to clear their names. Ron Ray,
arrested for driving without a license and
impeding traffic, and Ron Ledford,
arrested for being drunk and disorderly
and impeding another (the officer) in
their lawful occupation, plan to fight the
charges in court and through the Police
Department's civilian complaints
division.
The charges arose when Ray stopped
at the comer of Cypress and 8th streets to
let a passenger out of his car. He was
stopped by Officers Jackson and Brown
who were preparing to leave the area
after conducting a several hour-long road
block at that corner. According to
sources, the charge of impeding traffic is
rarely used, and when it is used it is
normally an excuse to detain suspects
while searching for more damaging
evidence. The only other charge against
Ray was for driving without a license,
which he attempted to explain to the
officers was recently stolen.
Ledford, who was asked to identify
Ray by Officer Brown, was arrested after
becoming exasperated at Brown's
attitude toward the men. Although he
was arrested for being drunk and
disorderly, Ledford was never given a
breathalyzer test to determine if he really
was drunk.
The most galling fact t'o the two men
From Page 1
Slay tuned to the Southern Voice for more.
The statement quoted in the latest issue of
Business Atlanta, where a spokesperson for
Bone's Restaurant says of gay "we don't have
those kinds of people apply for jobs here"
received much attention. Bone's is now the
subject of a boycott by lesbians and gays
until they agree to retract, in print, the
published statement
Other unfriendly businesses mentioned:
Rich's and Macy's. The retailers were asked
to display NAMES Project panels from the
Quilt in their windows. They refused.
MACGLO agreed to have members and
supporters send protest letters with pieces of
was not just the picayune charges they
were eventually arrested for, it was the
presumption of guilt by the officers, and
then the search for any technical
illegalities they might have committed.
Said Ledford, "that guy (Brown) has got
a problem. I don't think he can apply the
law equally. He had already decide to
arrest and harass me beforehand.
"There was no basis for the charges.
It was pure harassment," he continued.
Department spokespersons have denied
any wrong-doing on the part of either
the officers or the department. Ray and
Ledford are currently consulting with
the American Civil Liberties Union's
Lesbian and Gay Rights Chapter (Gay
CLU) on their defense.
Gay CLU president, Cathy Woolard,
stressed that witnesses of the night's
activities should contact her. Her
number is 377-8312. According to
Woolard, it is also important that the
courtroom be packed with Ray and
Ledford supporters, both to lend the two'
men emotional support, and to remind
the judicial system that the community
is keeping an eye out to ensure that
claims of harassment are not ignored.
Ledford and Ray's court date is set
for Friday, June 24th at 1:00 in City
Hall. The 24th is, ironically, during the
middle of Lesbian and Gay Pride Week
'88.
Complaints may be forwarded to
Public Safety Commissioner George
Napper's office at 658-7845.
-Chris Duncan
cut up Rich's and Macy's credit cards.
Neiman Marcus did display quilt panels.
On a positive note, a letter sent to Cox
Enterprises thanked them for firing a
newspaper man from the Dayton Daily
News who refused to publish an AIDS
education ad sent by a gay and lesbian group.
Southern Baptists are sending Cox protest
notes for the same action.
The gay and lesbian community has
clearly come of age in Atlanta. And the
energy and enthusiasm of each involved
community member are making a tangible
difference in Atlanta.
-F.G.
MACGLO meets on the third Thursday of
each month at the Peachtree Branch
Library at 7:00 PM. 242-2342 for
information.
Who ya gonna call 9
/ aint afraid
of no dirt!
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