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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (April 5, 1996)
just out T aprii 5, 1906 ▼ 17 local news Safely report The Crisis Response Team is officially unveiled; sexual orientation-based hate crimes in Portland decreased in 1995 T by Inga Sorensen Crisis Response Team, the latest cooperative ef ifteen years ago, on the eve of his 30th fort between law enforcement and the sexual birthday, William Warren was beaten minorities community. to a pulp. As “four or five guys in their “I believe that this is the first crisis response late teens” tried to crack his head open team specifically serving a sexual minority com on the sidewalk curb, his partner lay munity anywhere,” says LaVeme Lewis, execu several feet away curled in the fetal position, tive director of the Portland-based Lesbian Com playing possum. munity Project/Anti-Violence Project, which runs “We were coming home from a meeting. It was about 10:30 or 11 pm,” explains Warren, who was then living in Dorchester, Mass. “These guys began taunting us, saying things like ‘Hey fag got.’ I still remember the sound of the first swish of the baseball bat.” This was even too much for Warren, who as a youngster growing up in the South Bronx wit nessed his share of fistfights in the street. “Sometimes drunk guys would get into fights, but these people who were pounding on us were trying to kill us, simply for being who we were,” he says. The couple survived the beating, and Warren believes it may likely be because he fought so hard “to try and get free to protect” his partner, who “was totally nonviolent—he wouldn’t even hurt a housefly.” After limping home, battered and shocked, they dialed 911. Warren says two police officers responded, came to the hospital with the couple, and in structed medical personnel to keep the pair to gether. “They knew we were a couple and in their own way they were respecting that,” he recalls. “They stayed with us until we were treated, and then they took us home.” Warren continues to experience a complex array of emotions stemming from that violent a hate crime/anti-violence reporting hot line geared encounter. No longer can he witness even a staged toward Oregon’s sexual minorities community. beating without wincing or feeling nauseated. At According to Lewis, CRT will consist of a the same time, he remembers with great warmth group of screened and trained volunteers from the the care provided by the police officers, who queer community who will provide emotional handled the situation with sensitivity. and practical support to sexual minority victims And somehow it is not surprising that Warren of crimes or traumatic incidents. is now a crime prevention specialist and an active Volunteers will be called to a crisis scene or member of the Sexual Minorities Roundtable, a hospital by authorized police officers and assist regular gathering of members of the sexual mi victims and their families in the first few hours norities community and Portland police officials. following a tragedy. CRT volunteers may provide “No one should have to experience what I emotional support; make necessary phone calls; experienced that day,” Warren said during a re make referrals to appropriate agencies; and notify cent press conference at Portland police head family, friends and clergy. quarters in downtown Portland. “This is very exciting, and I hope the commu The briefing was designed in part to unveil the F nity can feel more empowered knowing that some one who understands will be at their side, hope fully lessening the fear,” says Warren. “When you fear, right then and there you become a victim.” According to Portland police, reported hate crimes against sexual minorities in the city plum meted in 1995. Hate crimes are those crimes committed against a person for a number of rea sons, including her or his sexual orientation. Of the 184 incidents last year classified as hate crimes, 47 involved sexual orientation. One hun dred and eighty hate crimes were reported in Portland in 1994, but according to A VP statistics, 106 of those involved sexual orientation— a 56 percent decline. James Bellah, a Portland detective assigned to the bureau’s bias crimes unit, says 1995 marked the first time that the AVP and Portland police Warren continues to experience a complex array o f emotions stemming from that violent encounter. No longer can he witness even a staged beating without wincing or feeling nauseated. At the same time, he remembers with great warmth the care provided by the police officers, who handled the situation with sensitivity. recorded the same number of hate/bias reports. ‘T o me that’s the big story,” says Bellah. ‘Typically [AVP] receives many more calls than us because people in the sexual minorities com munity are often more inclined to trust [the AVP] instead of the police. The fact that our numbers were virtually the same this time hopefully shows that people in the gay and lesbian community are beginning to really trust us. That makes me feel proud.” But activists and law enforcement say even though there has been a dramatic decline in re ported anti-gay and -lesbian violence, the rate could shoot back up as we approach the Novem ber election. The Oregon Citizens Alliance is pushing another anti-gay-rights initiative, which some fear could lead to an escalation in anti-queer violence. “It’s hard to predict. We saw a jump in incidents in February and at first I didn’t know why, but then I remembered all the coverage the gay students were getting. Maybe that had something to do with it. It doesn’t have to take a ballot measure,” says Bellah. “All it takes is some media coverage.” During 1995, 2,212 anti-lesbian and -gay incidents were documented by 11 national tracking programs monitored by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs. That number marks an 8 percent decrease from the 2,401 incidents documented by those pro grams in 1994. Some of the national tracking programs saw large increases in reports—El Paso expe rienced a 42 percent increase— while Portland saw the most dramatic decrease—down 56 percent from 1994. The NCAVP believes that violence will surge in 1996, due to the divisive national election “and because of more than a dozen statewide campaigns to block recognition of same-sex marriages.” According to NCAVP, “contrary to a fre quently repeated myth concerning anti-les bian and -gay violence, only a small propor tion of the total incidents (15 percent) involved only harassment, [which is a] noncriminal behavior in most states. On the other hand, 85 percent of the incidents involved acts which would constitute criminal behavior in most states.” Bellah says in Portland most of the anti lesbian and -gay incidents involve vandalism. “It’s been a while since we’ve seen a vio lent assault. We see that more in the race category, where lots of assaults occur. But in terms of the sexual minority community, the vast majority of reports involve vandalism.” NCAVP documented 29 gay- and lesbian- related murders in 1995, down from 38 the previous year. Ninety percent of the known offenders for all the documented incidents were male, compared with 92 percent in 1994. Two-thirds of the victims were men, and most of the offenders were younger than 30. “I was lucky to live to tell my tale,” says Warren. “I want to see that others have that same luxury.” Anyone who thinks she or he has been the victim o f a hate crime is encouraged to call the Anti-Violence Project at 796-1703 in Portland or 1-800-796-1703 outside the city, or call the Portland Police Bureau at 823-0434. For information about volunteer ing fo r the Crisis Response Team, call LCP at 223-0071. tyou t (fuidc to Aco&ia* & Ç a y "PoitleiHclf BLUESTONE HOCKLEY R E A L T Y I N C. 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