Gay Couple Attacked in Heart of Gay-Friendly New York Neighborhood
NYPD sketches of suspects in Wednesday’s attack on a gay couple in Chelsea.
BREAKING NEWS: New York City, New York – Police have released sketches of two principle attackers who savagely assaulted a gay couple as they walked holding hands in Chelsea, one of the gay-friendliest sections of the Big Apple. The suspects, according to CBS Local, are described by the NYPD as a black man wearing a white tee shirt, and a younger Hispanic male, probably in the 16 to 20 year old range, sporting tattoos on his arms. The attack is being investigated as a bias-motivated hate crime by New York Police Department’s Hate Crime Task Force as part of the wave of murder and assault taking place against LGBTQ people in New York this spring and summer.
Wednesday, August 14, shortly after midnight, Peter Notman, 53, and Michael Felenchak, 27, left the Chelsea Bowtie Cinemas on 23rd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues holding hands. As they walked along after turning down 24th Street, a two men shouting anti-gay slurs attacked them. Four other men joined in the attack on the couple, according to Huffington Post coverage of the incident. Notman said to CBS TV reporters, “It was six of them against the two of us. Typical of the cowards they are.”
One of the assailants used brass knuckles to strike the pair, and both Notman and Felenchak required hospitalization at Beth Israel Hospital, spending the entire night in the emergency room. Notman said, “I was hit with brass knuckles down the side of my face, and I had contusions; had to have an MRI, and Michael received several stitches in his mouth where they punched us.” Felechak required seven stitches to close his wounds.
By Thursday morning, the couple were passing out fliers and appearing before the media with local politicians to protest this latest hate crime attack against LGBTQ people. “We have our complete faith in the NYPD — they are great guys; they’re amazing. They’re going to find the guys,” Felenchak said.
Micheal Felenchak (l) and Peter Notman (r), attacked while holding hands.
Christine Quinn and Bill de Blasio, both candidates in the hotly contested New York Mayor’s race, spoke out against the rise in violence against LGBTQ people in the very city that gave birth to the modern human rights movement in Greenwich Village, not far from the site of this latest outrage against LGBTQ dignity. “I am appalled by reports that two men were senselessly beaten in Chelsea simply because they were perceived to be gay,” Council Speaker Quinn said. “The cowardly individuals who committed this crime do not represent New Yorkers and our community will not be cowed by such violence. New York City’s greatest strength is our diversity, and we will not stand for attacks against anyone, for any reason.” NYC Public Advocate de Blasio issued his statement to Huffington Post: “We won’t let hate work its way into our communities. LGBTQ New Yorkers have the right to walk any street in this city free from violence or intimidation. We have to meet any bias attack against the LGBTQ community with aggressive action—both in our condemnation, and in our police response. I applaud the NYPD for doing exactly that. The community needs to know the City will meet its fundamental obligation to protect its people.”
Meanwhile, residents of Chelsea were still recovering from the news that their once highly touted gay-friendly neighborhood was no longer a safe place for gay men and lesbians to live open lives without fear. Upper West Side resident, Corbin Reid told CBS New York, “A lot of homosexuals live here, and they feel safe here and I think they live here because they feel a sense of community. So to get attacked here is definitely disheartening, and it’s like getting attacked in your own home.” Chelseaite John Flippen said, “I suddenly have to be very aware of what I’m doing and restraining myself from anything that might draw attention and that’s no way to live. I didn’t come to Chelsea to live that way.” Toby Berkowitz, another Chelsea resident, chimed in, “Chelsea of all places? Really? You’re here because it’s a very homogenized mix of people. We love that. But if you don’t feel safe in front of your local movie theater, where would you?”
There have been no arrests as of press time today. The search for the gay bashers continues in America’s largest city, where anti-LGBTQ attacks are up 70 per cent over last year.
Wilson Cruz, national spokesperson for GLAAD, summed up the outrage of the LGBTQ activist community over this latest attack, saying, “The rising number of anti-LGBT attacks around the country is staggering and needs to be addressed immediately. Nobody should have to fear simply walking down a street in their own neighborhood because of who they are.”
Anti-Gay Activist Pastor Scott Lively Ordered to Stand Trial for Crimes Against Humanity
Scott Lively, American anti-gay extremist, now to be defendant in international crimes against humanity lawsuit case.
Springfield, Massachusetts – In a historic judicial ruling, a federal judge denied a motion filed on behalf of U.S. hate pastor Scott Lively asking the court to dismiss a lawsuit accusing Lively of international crimes against humanity. This unprecedented decision by Judge Michael A. Ponsor, Senior Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, effectively orders Lively to face charges that establish anti-gay persecution as a crime against humanity, according to Out.com. In his ruling issued on Wednesday, August 14, U.S. District Judge Ponsor stated, “Widespread, systematic persecution of LGBTI people constitutes a crime against humanity that unquestionably violates international norms.” Judge Ponsor, a Rhodes scholar and widely respected federal justice, went on to say, “The history and current existence of discrimination against LGBTI people is precisely what qualifies them as a distinct targeted group eligible for protection under international law. The fact that a group continues to be vulnerable to widespread, systematic persecution in some parts of the world simply cannot shield one who commits a crime against humanity from liability.”
![Ugandan protestors outside London embassy [Voice of America photo].](https://unfinishedlivesblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/uganda-voa.jpg)
Ugandan protestors outside London embassy [Voice of America photo].
U.S. District Judge Michael A. Ponsor issued the historic ruling against Scott Lively on August 14, 2013.
While the court battle is hardly over, Wednesday’s ruling in U.S. District Court is a clear defeat of Lively’s heretofore unaccountable hate speech and advocacy against sexual and gender variant minorities, and a shot across the bow of any other individuals or organizations that seek to deny the rights of LGBTQI people throughout the world. It is also a blow to the anti-gay Liberty Counsel, a rightwing legal consortium created by the arch heterosexist/homphobic evangelical ideologue, Rev. Jerry Falwell, which set out to defend Lively from the CCR/SMUG lawsuit. The lead attorney for CCR, Pam Spees, responded to press requests for comment, saying, “We are gratified that the court recognized the persecution and the gravity of the danger faced by our clients as a result of Scott Lively’s actions. Lively’s single-minded campaign has worked to criminalize their very existence, strip away their fundamental rights and threaten their physical safety.” Frank Mugisha, Director of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG) and winner of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, said to Gay Star News after the ruling was made public Wednesday, “Today’s ruling is a significant victory for human rights everywhere but most especially for LGBTI Ugandans who are seeking accountability from those orchestrating our persecution.”
Gay Texas Hate Crime Victim Appeals for Help…But Where’s the Community?
Jimmy Lee Dean, after the brutal July 2008 hate crime attack that nearly took his life.
Dallas, Texas – Jimmy Lee Dean deserves help from the North Texas LGBTQ community. In July 2008, he was brutally attacked by two young men bent on robbing and savaging a gay man in the storied Cedar Springs neighborhood. The heroic act of bouncers from a nearby bar, and a local passerby saved Jimmy Lee from dying, then and there. But the injuries he sustained that night ruined his life.
Now, his face a wreck from failed surgeries, Jimmy Lee Dean has reached out to the LGBTQ community in his longtime Dallas home. But despite coverage by the Dallas Voice commemorating the Fifth Anniversary of the attack that nearly stole his life away, and an Indiegogo campaign to raise the money to set his ravaged face right again, only three anonymous funders have risen to the challenge, and reached out to Jimmy Lee. What is going on here? Besides the usual American aversion to remembering difficult events for longer than a news cycle, or perhaps background problems with this particular case-gone-cold, could there be something else preventing LGBTQ people from responding positively to the pleas of a home-grown hate crime victim who barely escaped with his life?
Jimmy Lee tells the story of his need on the Indiegogo campaign home page he originated two weeks ago. Here is his statement, as he wrote it, in its entirety:
“On July 17, 2008 I was the victim of a hate crime in Dallas, Texas. Through the kind act of everyday people like you, I did not die that night. The criminals were stopped, prosecuted and the good people of Texas provided $50,00.00 from their crime victims fund to repair my physical damages and any phycological [sic] help that might be needed.
“Problems started when I left Parkland County Hospital intensive care unit. Up to that point everything seemed to be going ok. Then After some 16 visits to the Oral Surgery Clinic, 2 surgeries and one attempted surgery that never took place and 27 visits to Parkland crisis center I am in the same phycical [sic] situation as at the crime scene.
“Work done in the second surgery at Parkland Hospital has all come undone. My jaw and cheek bone are no longer attached. Teeth have never been dealt with. No one has followed up on my broken back. I have headaces [sic] every other day. My eyes are having problems. I walk with a causious gate [sic]. I get light headed all the time. I don’t reallly go anywere because of the facial disfigurments and the way I look when I eat.
“I never asked for what happend. It could have been anyone of us at that spot at that time.
“My dreams and identity are gone along with my alillity [sic] to smell, but maybe there are medical procedures that might restore me to a point where I can have some kind of a normal life.”
The anti-gay hate crime attack on Jimmy Lee in the heart of the “Gayborhood” was an outrage. The two defendants in the case, Jonathan Gunter and Bobby Singleton, were brought to justice. Gunter received a 30 year sentence, and Singleton got 70 years. Jimmy Lee Dean moved away from Dallas to try and put his life back together, but his orphaned story has largely been unremembered and unattended, despite the efforts of a few LGBT activists who went court in support of Jimmy Lee, and the efforts of the Dallas Voice editors and staff.
Who knows if Jimmy Lee’s assailants will serve their whole sentences–sentences achieved by the Dallas D.A.’s Office without hate crime enhancements for the usual reasons that hate crimes are hard to prove in Texas? But what Jimmy Lee is asking for is something more tangible than answers to opaque questions of law and right and wrong. He is asking for financial help. And, as of this writing, only three donors out of the thousands and thousands of queer folk in North Texas have done anything. The Indiegogo fund stands at $100.00.
Shaming, of course, does little or no good. But the broader question behind the non-response to the pleas of a bona fide hate crimes survivor is whether there is anything like an LGBTQ community to appeal to in the first place? Has the loose association of interest groups and tavern patrons, the merchants and real estate developers in Dallas who are happy to claim to be progressive LGBTQ community members when it suits their self-interest, actually never matured into a community at all? Is the reason for the non-response to the call of a former member of the Gayborhood for help actually because there was no real LGBTQ community in Dallas to begin with? And, what are the signs that a gathering of people on the margins of heterosexual society have begun to attain the seriousness and sacrifice for their own people that denotes a community of character and concern?
Jimmy Lee Dean now (Indiegogo Campaign page image).
Whether Jimmy Lee’s appeal finds its way into the generous heart of queer Texans remains to be seen. LGBTQ Texans are an able bunch, once they are motivated. But hate crimes victims are at least one important litmus test of a true community, as African Americans, Jews, and Buddhist commemorators of Hiroshima and Nagasaki can attest from their own histories of struggle and resistance. A community begins to become serious and exist in the real world when it starts to take care of its own whenever they meet crisis and disaster. Until then, it is a fair-weather association, at best.
Anyone wishing to contribute to Jimmy Lee Dean’s appeal can read more and donate here.
~ Stephen V. Sprinkle, Founder and Director of the Unfinished Lives Project
Gay Seattle Man Brutally Attacked by Mob; Police Call Bashing “A Hate Crime”
Jason Jacobs, gay 37-year-old, attacked in his own neighborhood.
Seattle, Washington – A 37-year-old gay man was attacked early Monday morning by a gang of women and men who yelled anti-gay slurs as they ran him down in the gay-friendly Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle. KOMO News 4 reports that police are calling the attack a bias-driven hate crime.
Jason Jacobs told reporters and the Seattle Police Department that he was walking down the street in his own neighborhood a bit past midnight on Monday when two women and three men called out slurs about his sexual orientation, chased him down, and assaulted him with fists and kicks until he lay unconscious with a fractured eye socket, a broken nose, a major concussion, and two cracked ribs. Jacobs says he did not get a good look at his assailants, but knows other witnesses did–if they will only come forward. The attack took place in front of a Starbucks Coffee Shop, but only one witness has come forward to file a report with the SPD. Jacobs’ cries for help drew the witness to respond out of a feeling that, if he were subjected to such an attack, he would want someone to reach out to him. The witness stayed with Jacobs until an ambulance arrived to transport him to a local hospital.
Jacobs says that his pink shirt and shoes may have first attracted the attention of the gang of women and men, the Huffington Post reports. “Hopefully somebody saw something,” Jacobs told KIRO News. “Hopefully we can get some justice.” On Tuesday, he returned to the scene of his attack, seeking to encourage others to come forward and help police with the investigation. Looking at the stains of his own blood still on the sidewalk, Jacobs says that he has lost the feeling of safety and security he once had in the Capitol Hill area.
Seattle Police have assigned this case to their bias crimes division. In their report, investigators describe the three men suspected of the crime as being in their 20s and of “unknown race,” while the two women were described as “Hispanics” with dark hair. As of this writing, no arrests have been made.
Lesbian Couple Beaten By Mob in Chicago; One Suspect Arrested
![Terry Glover, 24, charged with anti-lesbian hate crimes and robbery in West Side Chicago neighborhood [Chicago PD photo].](https://unfinishedlivesblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/terry-glover.jpg)
Terry Glover, 24, charged with anti-lesbian hate crimes and robbery in West Side Chicago neighborhood [Chicago PD photo].
In personal accounts of the harrowing attack, the women, who wish to remain unidentified, say that their assailants yelled that no “bitch dykes” were going to walk through their neighborhood. The assault, they say, was initiated by Glover who was a former school classmate of one of the women. The couple allege they were taunted for their sexual orientation, knocked to the ground, and kicked while they were down. “It was punches, kicks, everything being thrown at us,” one of the victims told the Tribune. “We just held onto each other until somebody said, ‘Here come the police.'” One of the women had her shirt ripped from her body during the attack, and the cash and cell phones of them both were taken. The mob ran at the approach of police officers.
By Monday, Glover was in custody, and was hauled before a Cook County judge, according to DNAinfo Chicago.
The younger of the two women told the Tribune, “It really shouldn’t matter who I like or who I love. I should be able to walk the streets wherever I want to go and talk to whoever I want to talk to.”
Meanwhile, in the wake of the Supreme Court decisions of last month, the violence against LGBTQ people in America continues, apparently unabated. Rick Garcia, policy director of The Civil Rights Agenda, a Chicago-based LGBTQ rights organization, told Tribune reporters, “We see cases like this all the time, all over the city and all over the state. It shows that animosity toward lesbian and gay people is just below the surface. We think we’ve made such big gains, but right below the surface we see this animosity and violence.”
Gay Hate Crimes Blog Celebrates Fifth Anniversary
![Dr. Stephen V. Sprinkle, Unfinishedlivesblog.com founder and director, speaks at Dallas Day of Decision Rally last week [Robbie Miller photo].](https://unfinishedlivesblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/sprinkle-speaks-at-scotus-rally.jpg)
Dr. Stephen V. Sprinkle, Unfinishedlivesblog.com founder and director, speaks at Dallas Day of Decision Rally last week [Robbie Miller photo].
“Adding the responsibility of writing, monitoring networks of news sources, and updating the blog seemed daunting at first,” Sprinkle admits. “Nevertheless, communicating with such a wide audience of concerned people on the injustice of murder and assault against LGBTQ people simply because of irrational prejudice and hatred, has become an enormously energizing dimension of my life’s work. And, we at the Unfinished Lives Project have learned how to do this as we went along,” Sprinkle noted. “Remembering the victims of homophobic and transphobic violence must become second nature to the LGBTQ community if it ever is to become a People among the Peoples of this country, and of the world family of Peoples. We like to think that we are making some contribution to the maturation of the LGBTQ community by our work.”
Five years on gives the Unfinished Lives Project a chance to revisit some of its more notable achievements. Since 2008, the blog has:
- Posted 564 articles to date on hate crimes and told the stories of hate crimes victims throughout America and the world
- Contributed to the struggle to enact the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act into federal law in 2009
- Provided local coverage of the Raid on the Rainbow Lounge and the events stemming from it in the summer of 2009
- Pressed for the Repeal of Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell (DADT) in 2010
- Covered the alarming rise in transgender hate crimes, with a special focus on transgender youth of color
- Chronicled the alarming stories of LGBTQ youth bullied in schools throughout the nation
- Gained readership in more than 183 nations, principalities, territories, and protectorates worldwide
- Built and maintained a searchable website available free of charge for research on anti-LGBTQ hate crimes
- Supported the publication of Dr. Sprinkle’s award-winning book, Unfinished Lives: Reviving the Memories of LGBTQ Hate Crimes Murder Victims (Eugene, Oregon: Resource Publications, 2011)
- Provided coverage of Unfinished Lives events in 9 states and the District of Columbia
Sprinkle has continued to be Director and main writer for the blog, but says that he is indebted to the ongoing contributions of members of the Unfinished Lives Project Team. “We could not be the player in the cyber world we are today without the hard work of friends like web masters Todd W. Simmons, Adam D.J. Brett, and the invaluable support of Sandra Jean Brandon,” Sprinkle said. He also thanks the loyal readership that has lent their voices and advocacy to the struggle to eliminate hate crimes violence from society. “They are helping to change the national conversation on hate crimes,” Sprinkle said. “We are moving beyond dry statistics. The stories of real human beings give life and passion to the ongoing effort to make our neighborhoods safe for love and life to bloom and flourish.”
The future offers opportunity to Unfinished Lives Blog as it enters its second decade of service. LGBTQ hate crimes continue unabated in the United States, rising to record high numbers of murders each year since 2010. Worldwide human rights efforts are spreading at breakneck speed, and the forces of repression and irrational hatred are mounting to squash them. Unfinished Lives Blog intends to meet the challenges with creativity and passion. In October 2013, the Unfinished Lives Project will visit the Republic of South Korea where Dr. Sprinkle’s book is being published in the Korean language by Alma, a division of Munhakdongne Publishing Group, to spread the word on hate crimes and hate crimes prevention. As Sprinkle says every time he is offered the chance, “We who believe in justice cannot rest. We who believe in justice cannot rest until it comes!”
Happy Fifth Anniversary, Unfinished Lives Blog! Here’s to many more!
Oregon’s “Pink Poodle” Gay Bashing Draws Federal Hate Crime Charges
Gay Bashing victim David Beltier (l), partner Jeremy Mark (r), and their poodle Beauty.
Hillsboro, Oregon – A bizarre anti-gay crime case at a busy highway street crossing has attracted national attention as Federal prosecutors issued hate crimes charges against a man whose homophobic rage was sparked by the sight of a pink poodle. The assailant, George Mason Jr., 22, was charged this week with a violation of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act for attacking a gay man with a heavy bolt cutter and screaming anti-gay slurs during a peaceful, midday stroll with his boyfriend and their pink-dyed poodle on March 1. Multiple witnesses say Mason shouted slurs at the gay couple from his SUV, did a U turn, raced back to the intersection, and allegedly attacked David Beltier with his fists and the bolt cutter. Beltier sustained blows to the upper arm, and to the back of his head. The assault could very nearly have cost Beltier his life.
Portland, Oregon court documents record the hate crime in legal language, but preserve the horror of the assault, coming from a complete stranger: “(Mason) willfully caused bodily injury and, through the use of a dangerous weapon, attempted to cause bodily injury to (Beltier), who is gay, because of (Beltier’s) actual and perceived sexual orientation.” The Associated Press, in a story carried by the Columbus (IN) Republic, also reports that Mason faces Oregon state charges including second-degree intimidation, second-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon, and reckless driving. The intimidation charge is a bias-motivation charge in the Oregon state code. Mason’s wife, Saraya Gardner, who was in Mason’s vehicle at the time of the attack, has also been charged in the case for obstructing justice.
George Mason Jr. Alleged gay basher enraged by the sight of a pink poodle.
In an interview in Komonews.com, Beltier and his partner, Jeremy Mark, recounted that they were crossing the street with their pink-dyed poodle, Beauty, when the attack occurred. Beauty, explained Beltier and Mark, had been harmlessly dyed pink with Kool-Aid for a bit of pre-Easter fun, and to match their two other pastel-dyed dogs. The sight of the pink poodle proved too much for Mason, who screamed profanities at the couple from his moving vehicle. The intersection was filled with witnesses who blared their horns in protest of the attacker. Beltier credits the witnesses with saving his life. “If I didn’t hear all the other people honking, all the people seeing what was going on, he could have probably severely hurt me, maybe even killed me right there and then,” he said. The New York Daily News reports Mark’s account of the slurs Mason hurled at his boyfriend. “[Mason] was saying, “Your poodle is a weird color and that’s just un-American” and “f— you, you f–s” and shouting,” Mark said.
Beltier then picked up the story for Komo News: “After that, [Mason] turns around, he goes back to his car, runs back to his car and brings out this long wrench-looking crowbar tool or something like that, and he comes back after me.” Mason then struck Beltier on the upper arm and in the back of the head. Beltier’s boyfriend was frantic with fear for his lover’s life. “I just couldn’t believe it,” said Mark. “I was shouting at the guy to stop. There’s no need for violence. There’s nothing to provoke him. … I was fearing for his life.”
As Mason raced away from the scene of the crime, witnesses tried to block his vehicle, and one witness took off after him, capturing Mason’s license plate number. The information led to the arrest of Mason and his wife, Gardner.
Though officials advised the gay couple to eliminate the bright pink color from his pet’s fur, Beltier and Mark remain adamant. They say that they did nothing wrong, and they are not going to let fear dictate their lives. They just allowed Beauty’s fur to grow out naturally over time.
Attacker Arrested for Brutal Transgender Beating in Hollywood
Vivian Diego, 22, speaks out for justice after being attacked on May 31 by a gang of transphobic men. (CBS 2 Image)
Hollywood, California – A man has been arrested in the savage beating case involving a transgender woman last month. Nicol Shakhnazayan, 21, was taken into custody by detectives of the Los Angeles Police Department and charged with felony battery of a woman. Shakhnazayan, whose arrest happened a day after Los Angeles city leaders posted a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the assailants in the case, is being held on $1.05 million bail, according to Gay Star News. The victim, 22-year-old transgender woman Vivian Diego, was assaulted by four men shouting transphobic and homophobic slurs. The assault took place late on the night of May 31 near a Metro stop at Hollywood and Ivar, after Ms. Diego finished her shift as a barista at Beso Restaurant. CBS Los Angeles reports that video of the attack on Ms. Diego helped in making the arrest of the first suspect. Lt. Marc Reina of the LAPD told CBS2: “One of the members of the group ran after Vivian and struck her from behind, knocking her to the ground. The remaining members of the group then joined in brutally assaulting Vivian by repeatedly kicking her, even while she lay motionless on the sidewalk.”
Ms. Diego described the horror and pain of the attack in vivid terms: “It was awful. I wouldn’t wish the pain I went through on my worst enemy.” She sustained a broken jaw, a smashed cheekbone, bruises, and two cracked ribs. Her family remains solidly in support of her, calling on the police and city officials to bring the other perpetrators of this hate crime to justice.
As she recovers, Ms. Diego, whose mouth is wired shut, communicated optimism and determination through her pain. She is proud to be a transgender woman. “I am not letting this incident, this attack stop me from living my life,” she said to CBS News. “As you can see, I’m still fabulous.”
Lesbian Council Speaker Offers Free Gay Self-Defense Classes in Response to New York City Hate Crimes
Center for Anti-Violence Education will offer free self-defense classes to LGBTQ adults.
New York City, New York – Lesbian mayoral hopeful Christine Quinn, the outspoken Speaker of the New York City Council, announced that free self-defense classes will be available to the LGBTQ community following an alarming spike in anti-gay hate crimes in the city. Quinn made the announcement Sunday at the 21st Annual Queens Pride Parade held in Jackson Heights, according to CBS 2.
The New York queer community is returning to a sense of the significance of Pride it has not known for many years because of the recent rise in anti-LGBTQ violence throughout the five boroughs. Quinn noted the severity of the hate crimes in her remarks following the Queens Parade: “This is the kind of violence and frequency and in severity we haven’t seen in a really long time. It isn’t safe to be gay everywhere in New York City.” The classes, which will concentrate on diffusing smart aleck harassment more than actual hand-to-hand skills, will commence this weekend, free of charge, compliments of the City of New York. Quinn became a supporter of the idea of LGBTQ self-defense classes after queer activist Ed Lovendusky, himself a victim of a recent gay bashing in Hell’s Kitchen by a group of homophobic men, called upon the city of provide them.
Openly lesbian NYC Council Speaker, Christine Quinn.
The first self-defense class for LGBTQ adults will be held June 8 at the LGBT Center, 208 W. 13th Street in Manhattan, led by the Center for Anti-Violence Education. On June 12, the second class will be offered at the Hudson Guild Elliott Center. The Center for Anti-Violence Education (CAE), whose headquarters are in Brooklyn, has been actively empowering LGBTQ people in New York City to feel safer and stronger for over 38 years, with an emphasis upon women and youths. On its website, the CAE says its mission is to develop and implement “comprehensive violence prevention programs for individuals and organizations. Through a combination of education, physical empowerment, and leadership development, CAE provides underserved communities throughout the New York metropolitan area with skills to break cycles of violence.”
The classes are designed to make members of the queer community in New York City feel safer and more secure at a time when many are feeling powerless in the face of rising numbers of reported hate crimes against LGBTQ folk. Speaker Quinn said to NBC 4, “No one should be made to feel unsafe because who they are or who they love. The spate of bias attacks against LGBT New Yorkers in recent weeks is unacceptable and must end now.”
Young Transgender Person Savagely Beaten in Hollywood Hate Crime: Updated
Victor Diego, 22, transgender and gay victim of brutal beating on Hollywood Boulevard [CBS 2 photo].
Reportage on the attack has been careful to note that how Diego identifies in terms of gender identity and gender expression is not known. His sisters Virginia and Melissa have used both male and female pronouns to describe Diego, which reflects family practice, but not necessarily Diego’s own sense of personhood. Photographs show a graceful, lovely person with a sense of style and taste. Sister Virginia Diego said to reporters, “Sometimes men try to talk to him and they get humiliated in front of their friends when they realize it’s a man. Because he looks really good, he looks like a woman, you couldn’t tell the difference,” she continued. Sister Melissa Diego said that the Los Angeles Police Department, Hollywood Division is pursing the case as a transphobic hate crime. “We don’t want this to happen to anybody else,” she said. We just want somebody to come forward and let us know what they saw. He deserves justice.” Diego is recuperating at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Update: GLAAD reports that the victim has informed the LAPD of her preferred name and pronominal usage. In contradistinction to her family’s identification of her gender, the victim wishes to be known by “Vivian,” and indicated that she wants police and the media to use feminine pronouns when referring to her.
Diego shows multiple injuries sustained in Thursday night’s attack.
Fox News Latino reports that Hollywood’s Beso Restaurant where young Diego works is owned by actress Eva Longoria, famed for her roles on The Young and the Restless, and Desperate Housewives. The film and television star has not issued a statement in relation to the attack.
As the manhunt for Vivian Diego’s attackers continues, we are left to speculate about the rising number of anti-gay, anti-lesbian, and transphobic bias attacks reported recently, especially in New York City where the incidents of hate crimes is spiking to record highs as LGBT Pride celebrations kick off in the Big Apple. Is this hate crime attack against a gay and transgender person connected in some copycat way to the wave of East Coast brutalities? Some pundits suggest that the recent emphasis on the high profile human rights cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, and the increasing number of states making marriage equality legal for their residents may be igniting hostility among the opponents of LGBTQ rights in America.
For now, Vivian Diego has more immediate problems: facing surgery and how to pay for it, recuperating from the shattering physical and mental experience of being attacked for who she is–a crime unthinkable among fair minded people, but brutally frequent in the swirling emotions surrounding the expansion of human rights in the United States.
About
If you are a first-time visitor to the Unfinished Lives Project website, we invite you to read A Welcome Message introducing you to our project. We are truly grateful for your visit.
The Unfinished Lives Project website is a place of public discourse which remembers and honors LGBTQ hate crime victims, while also revealing the reality of unseen violence perpetrated against people whose only “offense” is their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender presentation. LGBTQ people in the United States are suffering a slow-rolling decimation of terror and murder all across the country. Every locale and demographic of society are affected: First Nations, Anglo, Black, Latino and Latina, South and Southeast Asian, Transgender, Bisexuals, Gay men, Lesbians, disabled, young, and mature. Homophobia has a long, crooked arm, and it is reaching out to snatch the life away from women and men whose tragic stories are under-reported to begin with, and whose memories are swiftly forgotten.
The horror of these killings transcends the shock and bereavement of loved ones and friends. These are not typical homicides; they are not killings for money or drugs, incidents of domestic strife, or crimes of passion. The vicious nature of hate crimes against LGBTQ persons is extremely brutal, grotesquely violent, and egregiously hateful.
Each murder serves the LGBTQ population as a sobering warning about the actual level of danger in our communities. The message these killings send is that freedom and open life for LGBTQ people is a cruel dream. Every time we remember one of these victims, however, the intentions of their killers are frustrated. To remember these women and men is to begin the process of changing the culture that killed them.
Our Project Director
Dr. Stephen V. Sprinkle (Keith Tew photo).
Stephen V. Sprinkle is Director of Field Education and Supervised Ministry, and Professor of Practical Theology at Brite Divinity School, Fort Worth, Texas, a post he has held since 1994. An ordained Baptist minister, he is the first open and out Gay scholar in the history of the Divinity School, and the first open and out LGBTQ person to be tenured there. Read More…
Recent Social Justice Advocacy Activity By Dr. Sprinkle
Summer 2009 – Dr. Sprinkle responded to the Fort Worth Police Department and Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission Raid on the Rainbow Lounge, Fort Worth’s newest gay bar, on June 28, 2009, the exact 40th Anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion. Dr. Sprinkle was invited to speak at three protest events sponsored by Queer LiberAction of Dallas. Here, he is keynoting the Rainbow Lounge Protest at the Tarrant County Courthouse on July 12, 2009. Read More…
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Publisher: Steve Sprinkle (Project Director)
Steve Sprinkle
Unfinished Lives: Remembering LGBT Hate Crime VictimsBrite Divinity School/Texas Christian UniversityFort Worth TXprofessor, minister, author, blogger, LGBTQ advocate
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- HRC Back Story
- Know About The Gender Identity Movement
- Why Is There A Need For Human Rights?
- Kinds Of Human Rights
- Human Rights Purposes And Violations
- Human Rights For Every Human Incident
- 8 Reasons Human Rights Are Important
- Everything About Human Rights
- Human Rights Issues Education & Law
- We Need To Stand Up For Our Rights And Those Of Others
- Coca-Cola Receives Perfect Score On Human Rights
- The Advocate: Daily News
- Lillian Bonsignore will be first out gay Fire Department of New York commissioner
- Daily newsletter 12/23
- The HIV response on a cliff-edge: advocacy must drive urgent action to end the epidemic
- CECOT story pulled by Bari Weiss gets viewed anyway thanks to Canadian streaming service
- Burkina Faso issues first sentence for 'homosexuality and related practices'
- Transgender NSA employee files discrimination lawsuit against Trump administration
- Instructor who gave U of Oklahoma student a zero on anti-trans paper removed from teaching
- All about the infamous CECOT prison — on which CBS's Bari Weiss pulled a story
- Daily newsletter 12/22
- Chest binder vendors respond to 'absurd' FDA warning letter: 'Clearly discrimination'
- Dallas Voice: Instant Tea
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Unfinished Lives 