The Killing Fields

Claiming the Violence

Part Five by Lori Weiner

"A verdict is expected this week in the trial of Mark Steven Smith, charged with felony murder and malice murder in the March 1995 beating death of gay businessman Keith Stapleton, who was visiting Atlanta from his home in Detroit. ... District Attorney Marty First has argued that Smith killed Stapleton after Stapleton propositioned him for sex ... the victim died a 'senseless and violent death because he was a homosexual,' First reportedly argued."

"Police (in the Cleveland suburb of Northfield) found a 43-year-old man drowning in his own blood Aug. 24 after he was brutally attacked by two men police say he met at a gay bar. Every bone in Raymond Peden's face was broken, and two broken ribs punctured his lungs ... . 'He has very little brain activity, from what the doctors tell us,' Northfield police chief James Varga told the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram in late August ... 21-year old Gene Scott Jr. and 24-year-old Kirk Pollack are being held in Summit County Jail on $75,000 bond after they confessed to beating Peden, according to the Chronicle-Telegram. They are charged with felonious assault and petty theft."

"EL PASO, TX-A gay man was assaulted by his cousin, brother, and father during a wedding reception because of his sexual orientation. The man drove himself to the hospital for x-rays and emergency treatment. When asked why he was there, he told a male nurse what had happened and was advised not to disclose his sexual orientation to anyone else at the hospital because 'they won't treat you right.' The victim declined to report the incident to either the police or the hospital administration."

• Lambda GLBT Community Services as reported to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs

Serial killers who prey on gays and lesbians are only the most extreme examples of violence against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered persons. There are many other forms of violence, some equally deadly, plaguing the lesbigay community; much of this violence is made all the more dangerous by how easily it is concealed. Battering by same-sex partners is increasing, with available statistics suggesting that gay men are victimized as often, if not more often, than lesbians (nationally, 1,191 gay men reported incidents of domestic violence versus 1,161 lesbians; locally in Chicago, 72 gay men reported incidents of domestic violence to the Horizons Anti-Violence Project in 1996; 94 lesbians reported incidents of domestic violence).

Hate crime is also increasing, with 2,529 anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered incidents reported by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) in 1996, representing a 6% increase from 1995 levels. Locally, Horizons' Anti-Violence Project documented a 15% increase in Chicago area anti-lesbigay hate crime from 1995 levels.

Ominously, the 1996 NCAVP Hate Crimes Report states that "not only did the number of incidents of violence increase, but the intensity and viciousness of the violence increased as well." More assaultive incidents-incidents involving a direct, personal attack against the victim such as punching, hitting, kicking, or assault with a weapon-rose from 39% in 1995 to 41% in 1996. According to the NCAVP report, "these assaultive incidents resulted in injury or death to 867 victims in 1996." In Chicago, 50 individuals were either injured or killed by hate-related violence in 1996. Since 1990, the number of offenses per hate-related incident has also steadily escalated.

The NCAVP Hate Crimes Report defines the term as "an important measure of the overall severity of an (incident) ... offenses per incident indicates the number of individual crimes/ offenses perpetrated in a given attack." The number of offenses per incident rose 1% in 1996, from 2.17 in 1995 to last year's 2.20. In Chicago, offenses per incident remained steady at 2.3.

What do these numbers mean-and what do they reveal about how well, or how poorly, the lesbigay community protects itself against violence?

According to Toni Carrigan, director of the Anti-Violence Project for Horizons Community Services, "the entire lesbigay community has to become invested in stopping hate crime. There has to be universal buy-in from all segments of the community that this is our reality. We have to take responsibility for hate crime and its impact by reporting every single incident of harassment and of violence to the police. And we need to create reporting systems that transcend differing levels of outness."

Carrigan continues, "People who prey on our community know we are less likely to report (an incident), and this is used against us. (Lesbians and gays) make the best victims. We haven't educated law enforcement as to our issues. It's not possible to legislate a bias-free police force, but we can train law enforcement officers to do a bias-free job. And," she adds, "if an officer happens to be gay, that doesn't mean that she or he is not also homophobic."

What about gay and lesbian civilians? Carrigan cites a need for greater community involvement: "People need to give money, time, or both to combat anti lesbigay violence. No excuses." Carrigan also points out a need for the mainstream media to respect and report on anti-lesbigay hate crime, as they do with racially and ethnically motivated hate crime. "Many Americans have only one source of news-ABC, CNN, or their town paper. It's the job of the media to make sure they present all the news."

But Carrigan doesn't think the mainstream media should be left to find its way through the sometimes-labyrinthian world of the lesbigay community. "We need to monitor the mainstream media and stop misrepresentation, even when inadvertent," she said.

Carrigan also identifies legislative issues as pertinent to prevention of anti-lesbigay violence. "It's all well and good to vote with our wallets, but there's more to it than that ... we need to reward politicians in communities who respond to our issues well. For example, Washington, D.C. and New York City did a fabulous job during the manhunt for Andrew Cunanan.

"They can be role models for addressing anti-lesbigay violence in the future."

Concerning Cunanan and other serial killers with connections to the gay community, both now and in the future, Carrigan recommends that "profiles and other pertinent information (about the offenders) needs to be entered into a national database. Data must be collected and cultivated to apprehend these individuals. Many times, they don't stay in the same place. They need to be tracked. And of course, all of this takes a great deal of money to implement."

What happens if a caller to the Horizons Anti-Violence Project is in imminent danger? According to Carrigan, "we tell them to hang up and immediately dial 911. But before we let them go, we try to get their location so that we can call 911 as well." Carrigan has notified all the commanders in the Chicago Police Department of the Horizons Anti-Violence Project so that "our calls are given top priority."

Gay men are often assaulted in "cruising" areas or leaving gay bars, sometimes by the very man with whom the victim had planned to have a romantic encounter. Carrigan believes that "people will always want to have sex, and people should have sex. Sex isn't the issue. The issue is twofold: society's refusal to accept gay and lesbian sexuality as natural and desirable, thereby creating an environment where these types of 'gay bashings' can occur, particularly when the victims don't report the crime; and, perhaps, the gay community's failure to establish best practices for protection."

Carrigan suggests that someone planning to be alone with a prospective partner whom they don't know well leave "(the stranger's) information, such as their home address, phone number, even driver's license number, with a friend or the bartender. That way, if you don't come back, or are found messed up somewhere, people know who to find." Carrigan also cautions against premature intimacy with persons whose true intentions cannot be known. "Sometimes, the Internet, personal ads, public restrooms, and other places where contact between virtual strangers occurs can be dangerous," she said.

It's easy to be lulled into a false sense of security and "instant intimacy," but the reality is that you can't possibly know this person, she added.

And while many lesbians and gays report positive experiences meeting others in these nontraditional ways, it is considered wise to apply heightened rules of self-protection.

A phenomenon known as "homosexual overkill" is often present in the murders of gay men. According to a 1980 study by Brian Miller and Laud Humphreys, heterosexually married and very closeted gay men were most likely to be the victims of a "homosexual overkill" assault. The study, "Lifestyles and Violence: Homosexual Victims Of Assault And Murder," was first published in the Fall 1980 Qualitative Sociology journal and concluded that "some homosexual men, those most fearful of being stigmatized as gay, adopt a covert lifestyle which tends to make them subject to criminal victimization. Establishment of gay love relationships and involvement with gay community institutions may reduce vulnerability to violent crimes."

According to Toni Carrigan, homosexual overkill is technically defined by an exhibition of graphic brutality far beyond that required to induce death: for example, a gay victim found mutilated, eviscerated, or dismembered would be considered a statistic of "homosexual overkill." Accused serial killer Larry Eyler reportedly practiced "homosexual overkill" by torturing and repeatedly stabbing many of his victims, even after the victim had died.

Different from "homosexual overkill" is "homosexual rage," which can be termed the fuel possibly leading to homosexual overkill given specific conditions. According to Carrigan, "homosexual rage" describes a potential offender's mindset toward gays and lesbians. A person possessing "homosexual rage" tends to be highly threatened, upset, or angered by homosexuality and can erupt suddenly into violence when confronted by gays, lesbians, or transgendered persons.

Carrigan believes that a combination of an awareness campaign discussing the types of violence endemic in the lesbigay community (sexual assaults, hate crime, and domestic violence); greater involvement with lesbians and gays donating energy, time, and money to combat violence; and an out liaison to the lesbigay community in every district of the Chicago Police Department will greatly improve the visibility of lesbigays in Chicago-and help bring the level of violence down. "A (hate crimes) task force is nice, but it's not enough. I would like to see all branches of government embrace more than mere tolerance. Let's make it truly safe to be out, gay, and positive."

Carrigan also cites a need to educate youth citywide about hate crime: "Youths and young adults are by far committing the bulk of the hate crime. Educating them that (committing a hate crime) is not acceptable and punished severely is essential to finding a solution."

While Carrigan concedes that some criminals are simply "evil people," she does not believe that most fall into this category. "We, as the lesbigay community, need to care about the futures of these disenfranchised kids. They need nurturing so they don't turn into bashers and killers. We can provide them with that nurturing. We need to have the attitude that in a sense, we are our brother's keeper."