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* Pink Panthers
New York City sets an example for a lesbian and gay
community policing group
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by Rich Flowers
I
ncreasingly, it isn’t safe for gays and les
bians to walk the streets. A tidal wave of
crime is sweeping the country bringing
with it an increase in anti-gay violence.
“I’ve lived here all my life and I’ve never seen so
much bashing,” said Joe Ruscito, 33, a lawyer,
“Even on the trains to Fire Island, the conductors
have been harassing gay people. It’s a real prob
lem.” Bias-related assaults, gay bashings, are up
82 percent in the first seven months of 1990 (316
cases) according to the New York Anti-Violence
Project. Gay bashing is an aspect of the overall
increase in violence at its most terrifying-being
attacked by a stranger. The randomness also
strikes a note of horror and epitomizes assault’s
senseless cruelty.
Que pasal What’s going on here? Sociolo
gists say many things contribute to the increase
in anti-gay violence including, recession, lack of
job opportunities and an alarming increase in
drug use, crack in particular. Specifically, the.
Village is home turf for gays and lesbians. Add
to that, dozens of bars on every block, interaction
at all hours (the city that never sleeps) and a
mecca for tourists and you’ve got the setting for
most of the reported cases of anti-gay violence.
More importantly, gays and lesbians are increas
ingly more willing to be open. “As gays and les
bians gain more political power and visibility,
gay bashing will increase as more people feel
threatened. It’s definitely a backlash,” com
mented Brigitte Weil, 25, Panther member and
pastry chef.
In response to the increase in gay bashing and
fueled with outrage at the city’s indifferent re
sponse, a citizen foot patrol was organized by men and women,” said Weil. Some join the Pink
gay and lesbian activists to roam the streets in an Panthers because they have been beaten up.
effort to take back the streets. Their first patrol Some join because it’s cool. Some join because
was Aug. 4, 1990. The Pink Panthers patrol the they feel its politically correct. All are genuinely
streets in coed groups of 8 or 12, Friday and Sat concerned. Panther member Carol Anastasio, 28
urday nights from midnight to 3 am. Patrollers a public relations director remarked, “I’ve per
wear black T-shirts with a paw print in a pink sonally escorted lesbians, not because I wanted
triangle on the front and “PATROL” in English, their phone number but because I was concerned
Spanish and Chinese on the back. The T-shirts for their safety.”
are eye-catching. “We’ve always been perceived
Anyone can join the Pink Panthers. The only
as well dressed,” commented one member. Each requirement is a firm time commitment to patrol
member of the patrol has a specific duty. One ling. “It isn’t like a comfy planning meeting in a
carries a walkie-talkie and maintains contact with friend’s apartment or a one time “zap” or a let
the home base. One is responsible for dialing ter-writing campaign on letterhead stationery. It’s
911. One photographs and records incidents. getting out on the streets and putting your own
They all carry whistles while walking the beat. safety on the line,” said Phil Montana, 27, a
The Pink Panthers patrol unarmed. Though gourmet cook and Panther member. Unlike their
all members receive martial-arts training, they counterparts, the Guardian Angels (a non-gay
don’t perceive their duties to include dealing foot patrol that stakes out the same area), the
with weapons. If weapons are involved, the po Pink Panthers make themselves walking political
lice are notified immediately. Their primary goal statements by openly identifying themselves as,
is to defend the person being attacked and not gay and lesbian. They see the patrol as an oppor
necessarily to go after the attacker. If someone tunity to affirm their gay or lesbian identity and
calls them “faggots” while they are on patrol, community and to raise consciousness. “As far as
they are likely to respond in the affirmative and wearing our sexuality on our shirts, I think that’s
engage in some form of dialogue. Another patrol important,” said Montana. “We’ve traditionally
group may encircle the provoker and ask differ been targets and [people think] we won’t fight
ent questions rapidly from different “sides” of back. That’s wrong. We will fight back.” Asked
the circle (“When was Joan Crawford bom!?!”) about wearing her sexuality openly. Panther
in the hopes of disorienting the person and leav member, Gerri Wells, 32, construction contrac
tor thought and replied, “ Well, I feel I do that all
ing him/her dazed and dumbfounded.
Lesbians and gay men have come together on the time anyway.”
Zealous newcomers are encouraged to check
this patrol to help stop anti-gay violence. “Right
now, the Panthers are equally divided between out the patrol first instead of attending the
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weekly Tuesday night meetings. The Panthers
feel its important for people to realize they’re a
patrol not a discussion group. But the Tuesday
night meeting is a discussion group run more like
a support group where everyone gets to air an
opinion. “We need to be more gay-and-militaris-
tic, not gay-and-artistic,” a member recently
commented. By allowing all opinions, the group
hopes to avoid sexist, homophobic and paternal
istic structuring. But all opinions don’t carry
equal weight Priority is given to members who
actively patrol. “I don’t want people who are not
actively involved having input into it,” said
Montana. “We want people who make decisions
for us to be people who are out there patrolling.”
The Panthers also don’t .seek help from the
police though the police department is supportive
of the group. “They’re an excellent group. Any
body who is willing to go out on the streets and
fight crime is okay in my book,” said a police
officer from the sixth precinct, which covers the
Village. The police have offered to make the
Panthers a part of the auxiliary police but they
were turned down. “We voted against it,” said
Wells, “ a lot of us have been strip searched. In
a way we don’t trust them.” As it is, the Panthers
feel the police department needs sensitivity train
ing but the gay community doesn’t have the time
to wait for them to get sensitized.
The Panthers also feel the police don’t re
spond urgently enough to reports of anti-gay
violence. "They aren’t quick about it,” said Weil,
"they wait sometimes before jumping into an
assault in progress because they think the at-
tacker is right and on some level they are living
out one of their fantasies. This attitude is preva
lent.” The police sometimes have a hard time
separating their professional duties from their
persona] issues. Most police officers know how
to handle bias-related assaults but don’t, or don’t
classify the assault as bias-related unless a
prominent gay activist is involved.
According to the New York City police de
partment, in order for an assault to be classified
as bias related, a verbal epithet must be said prior
to the start of an assault but not during or after.
This definition cuts down on the number of as
saults classified as anti-gay and bias related and
so most gay bashings go unrecorded as such.
“We need those numbers,” said Neil Peck, 23, a
writer, “at present there is no bias-related crime
bill in New York (eight states, including Oregon,
and several cities do have them) and in order for
a bias related crime bill to pass, we need to show
there is a strong need for one. The fact that we
don’t have one sends out the message that it is
okay to bash gays and lesbians.”
So far, patrolling the streets hasn’t exposed
the Pink Panthers to much trouble. A lot of pa
trons of the Village are familiar with the group,
and everyone relates to the name they’ve chosen.
Pink Panthers, in a favorable way and this is an
unexpected plus. It’s different to start a fight with
a group that’s named after a likable and popular
cartoon character. Although members insist that
the group’s name alludes more to militant
groups like the Black Panthers of the 60’s and
the Gray Panthers of the 70’s, the association
with the cartoon character should be a welcome
one. Inspector Clousscau is always foiled in his
attempts to bash or sabotage the Pink Panther
and the voiceless panther is never deterred from
his duties. The Pink Panther theme is catchy, too.
Once a group of rowdy drunks came across the
Panthers on patrol. When they could make out
their name, a smile came across their faces and
they proceeded to “sing” the theme while walk
ing away in an imitation of how they thought a
panther would. A potentially dangerous situation
had been averted.
Another way of defusing potential conflict is
by using coed patrols. This lessens the likelihood
of attack because of the unwritten code of honor
among men that you don’t ever hit a woman (a
majority of bashers are male between 15-26
years of age). It doesn’t keep people from com
menting though. One patrol came across a dis
turbed man yelling anti-gay clichés. A straight
bodybuilder and his Farrah-Fawcettcd girlfriend
passed by and he looked back grinning and
smirked, “I could take them all on and wouldn't
break a sweat.” But for the most part there is a lot
of spontaneous praise and admiration. Every
once in a while a group will cheer from across
the street or an admirer will shout encouragement
from a passing taxi. A married telephone worker
repairing cable lines under the street peered up as
the Pink Panthers passed by and said to his co-
worker, “Will you look at that. That’s the Pink
Panthers, they’re all gay and they’re out protect
ing the streets for everybody. Isn’t that some
thing?” They both looked at each other and then
went back to work.