Of late there seems to be a flood of hate crimes directed at LGBT citizens with attacks ranging from New York to the West Coast to Tulsa, Oklahoma where another outrageous attack has occurred. Meanwhile, the Republicans in Congress and the sleazy professional Christians pontificate that hate crimes legislation is not needed. Or at least not needed to protect GLBT Americans. Christians yes, gays no. As the Tulsa World reports, there was no doubt that this attack was motivated by anti-gay animus plain and simple. Here in Virginia, GLBT Virginians currently have NO protection under the state's hate crimes law, although Christians do have protections. Queerity has mare graphic pictures here. Here are some story highlights:*
What should have been a 10-minute walk to a friend's house ended with a trip to the hospital for Brandon Patrick, a Tulsan who said he was severely beaten Sunday night because of his sexual orientation. Three people followed Patrick down the 1300 block of South Rockford Avenue about 11:45 p.m., yelling homophobic slurs and threats, he said. Patrick, who is gay, said he ignored the group until they closed in and then asked why they were accosting him without provocation. The assailants then started beating, biting and slashing at Patrick with a blade, he said, leaving him with several cuts on his head and body. The 23-year-old has been peppered with insults before, but he said he never thought they would escalate to violence.
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Tulsa Police Officer Leland Ashley said the people who are accused of attacking Patrick are at large and were seen in a maroon Ford Mustang from the late 1990s or early 2000s. Patrick described them as a woman in her early 40s and another woman and man, both in their late teens or early 20s. Patrick said he regularly walks through the neighborhood and doesn't know his attackers. They might have seen him previously and decided to act Sunday, he said.
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Oklahoma's hate-crimes law makes it a crime to "intimidate or harass another person because of the person's race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin or disability." Jenkins noted that the state law excludes sexual orientation from the qualifiers for a hate crime. As a result, police are investigating the case only as an assault and battery. Designation as a hate crime would allow for punishment beyond what would be imposed for the assault.
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Patrick said it's frustrating that race and ethnicity are taken into account by state lawmakers but sexual orientation is not. He said he hopes his ordeal will draw attention to the issue and lead to a change in state law. Although Oklahoma isn't known for being particularly gay-friendly, gay men and lesbians are attacked at about the same rate as their urban counterparts in places such as New York and Chicago, Jenkins said.
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When are legislators going to realize that we gays are just as human as everyone else?
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