LGBT Hate Crimes in DC
The past few weeks have seen a rash of LGBT-related bias crime in the DC area. (Some of the crimes are and some are not being investigated as hate crimes – The New Gay has coverage and commentary.) Last Wednesday, Tony Randolph Hunter died from injures he sustained in an attack near one of our bars.
DC is relatively progressive in terms of LGBT rights and protections – the police department has a Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit to respond to this type of crime – but it’s also a gentrifying city steeped in race and class tension. This sudden cluster of crime, particularly after Mr. Hunter’s death, is causing existential crises about community visibility, safety, and responsibility in many individuals and the DC gay community at large. From community organizing meetings and bar conversations to blog posts and, truly, facebook and gmail statuses, the worry is consuming.
Certainly I feel suddenly less safe – it is hard to tell, though, how much less. Is this cluster a disturbing trend or a tragic coincidence? And I know that I feel powerless – while the community negotiates a response, I don’t know what to do to make an impact or even protect myself. Our safe spaces, bars and bookstores, seem both more important and sadly futile.
I also, to put it bluntly, don’t really look gay. I won’t take on the pros and cons of femme invisibility right now, but just lately I am pretty happy to be in control of my image. That, though, just feels like closeting – I also do not want to sneak around in fear of an amorphous attacker.
If nothing else, the DC government and our community needs to sort out our role because our businesses, spending money and taxes play an important role in the city. This summer a gay club closed after their entertainment license was blocked – some of the violence is connected to going out in gay bars. It might be good for my personal wallet to spend a few more nights a week in (ahem) but it’s not good for the city to lose these spaces. DC gays already get enough flack for living here instead of New York!
Well, I’m a ponderer. All over my city people are organizing and activisming, and all I can think is how sad and scary this is. So, tell me, how do you channel the money, time or energy at your disposal? What do I do with all this?
Melissa: You make a good point. After all, how many people would want to spend time and money in city that can’t protect them from hate crimes. Here’s another disturbing article on the subject of DC.
That is really scary. Thanks for posting about it. It definitely makes me feel less safe, especially since I live in an area of Northeast DC where a lot of gentrification is happening. I, too, have the blessing/curse of femme invisibility going for me, which makes me feel a little safer right now, I suppose.
But I think now more than ever it is essential to support DC’s LGBT community — with our time and/or our money. There are some great organizations in DC that could always use more funds and volunteers. One that comes to mind is SMYAL (http://smyal.org/), a small nonprofit that helps queer youth.
So I guess my conclusion is there’s a lot we can do. I think we should keep going out to gay bars, but keep our guards up a little more and go in groups of at least 2-3 people (even though it’s not fair that we have to do this). If we have an opinion about what the police department could do better, we can write them a letter or call them. And we can continue to support local organizations that help the community, whether it be with time or money.
Thanks again for spreading the word about all of this.
What’s scariest is that they were already in a small group. It’s not even safe to be with other people.