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The Gay Agenda: Hate CrimesThis week on The Gay Agenda, Jennifer Vanasco and Jon Mallow of 365gay.com talk about the number of hate crimes in the United States, and how the number has fluctuated over the past couple of years. What does this mean for the LGBT community? The Gay Agenda August 8, 2008
Submitted by on August 8, 2008 - 9:00am. |
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Hmmm...that was weird at
Hmmm...that was weird at the end. Goofballs.
I've never lived in a large city. "Gay districts" are kind of foriegn to me. Although the smaller cities that I've lived in have community centers and bars, it's not something that has like a territory.
Where I live now in South Carolina, the gay community center actually has a night a month where a bunch of gays go to a straight bar together. They've never had any problems with the bars or the patrons. Maybe it's just a matter of people not feeling threatened by a large tight-knit group with a territory, but rather a small group of friends just having fun.
Ashland Oregon is pretty small and secluded, but also very gay friendly. But there is no gay part of town. At least not when I lived there...in fact the gay owned bars were not gay bars...but just bars where both gay and straight people went.
I was born and grew up in Portsmouth NH, and even the skinheads (sharpies) were gay friendly. We all hung out at this one coffeehouse. Really the only place to go if you were "different" in any way. Gays, freaks, geeks, punks, skinheads, hippies, racial minorites just become one subculture. In fact, if some out of towners came up for a show there, messing with anyone of us would incur the wrath of all of us. I.E. a skinhead gang from Mass. came up to see a punk band, and they said some anti-gay crap to me (yeah, I had a pride patch) and I had to insist that the local skinheads not start a fight with them over it.
I guess small cities just don't let you isolate because there's not enough of any one subculture....but at the same time there's a large enough population for there to the one subculture. I feel safer having allies that aren't gay. A few years ago the city council in Myrtle Beach worked to block a gay bar from opening in order to maintain it's "family friendly" atomosphere. And a whole slew of people came out in support of the gay bar that weren't gay, but just felt looked down upon. So the "us vs them" is much bigger than gay vs straight....but diverse vs homogenized. And there's a lot more people in the world that can relate to the feeling of being ostrasized for being different.
I'm not really sure if I'm making my point in all this. Less hate crimes depends on creating allies, aquaintances that aren't gay....but will stick up for gays when they're with their straight friends because they know someone who's gay. Win over one person at a time, and it's a ripple effect. Don't isolate the gay communities into districts. Doing so may feel safer on the inside, but it doesn't help outside of it and it kind of creates a trap where anyone who wanted to attack a gay person knows exactly where to go to do it.
"I'm not really sure if I'm
"I'm not really sure if I'm making my point in all this. Less hate crimes depends on creating allies, aquaintances that aren't gay....but will stick up for gays when they're with their straight friends because they know someone who's gay. Win over one person at a time, and it's a ripple effect. Don't isolate the gay communities into districts. Doing so may feel safer on the inside, but it doesn't help outside of it and it kind of creates a trap where anyone who wanted to attack a gay person knows exactly where to go to do it."
I think you make it sound easier than it actually is. I think a lot of cities aren't as gay friendly as yours. I think most gay communities are created because they are ostracized by the greater community. Gay bars give people the chance to be open without the fear of being harmed. I'd say most gay bars were created because if two guys were caught kissing in a straight bar, they'd get their asses kicked.
I think numbers have a great deal of influence over the structure of a subculture. In your small town, social minorities banded together and became allies because there is such a small group. In larger cities, minorities don't have to rely on others. Just because you're ostracized doesn't mean you can automatically gain support from other ostracized subcultures. Subcultures tend to "stick to their own kind" when the numbers are great enough, because the numbers make them feel safe. Ostracized groups aren't inherently accepting of other groups. "Us vs. Them" exists between different minority groups.
I think it sucks but it's reality.
Most of these gay districts were created during a time when people were openly harassed for being homosexual. I think it's unrealistic to tell an established community to dissolve itself because the greater community is more accepting.
I agree that isolated gay districts are sort of sitting ducks. But, I don't think it's realistic to expect them to leave their community. There are still a lot of straight people who don't want an openly gay couple in their neighborhood.
I remember
I remember back in the late 1980's to early 1990's there was a large increase in anti-gay hate crimes in New York City. They were very violent and took place in the gayest areas of the city, mainly different parts of the village. I participated in a few anti-violence demonstrations and rallies.
After a period of time the mainstream media started to take notice and LGBT groups like the Pink Panthers formed to patrol portions of the gay and lesbian areas of the city. Some of the hate crimes were perpetrated by the local police, which made the LGBT community very wary of them. Because the in-your-face activism surrounding AIDS was still fresh, some people were inspired by the Stonewall riots to form groups that would fight back. This worked and failed to varying degrees, and the Lesbian and Gay Community Center in New York did what it could to make the community aware of the situation and how we could protect ourselves.
It's been a while since I lived in the city, so I don't know what it really feels like on a day-to-day basis now. Overall, when I do visit it just seems like there's less civility in general. NYC has a higher unemployment rate among minorities over the past several years. The cost of living is ridiculous. If you want to buy some real estate and you're not at least upper middle class, you have to practically sell your soul to the devil. Those kinds of stressors seem to make people more violent in general.
The Rise in Violence
Is there any correlation to the rise in Hate Crimes with overall cime and violence? Are Hate Crimes more prevelant in certain regions than others? It wasn't clear from the vlog.
I sometimes think the level of violence in a society has a lot to do with attitudes of civility in general, along with the economy and any social upheaval.
Hate crime statistics
It would be interesting to know how they came up with their statistics for the rise in hate crime and whether they took into account the fact that most hate crimes (at least here in Britain but probably also in America) are not reported.
I've never been a victim of hate crime but I've always lived in big cities. However, as a short-haired lady I have had people shout things at me (Luckily nothing but verbal abuse) and even in London there are some places I won't hold hands with my GF.
I was shocked when I was in Brighton (one of the British Gay Mecca's) and I saw a gay man being taunted by a group of drunk men. Just shows it can happen anywhere.