Out in the Mountains

Goverment Looks at Violence Against Gays frompage1

police departments and district attomey’s
offices around the country have failed to
address the problem of hate-motivated
violence. And in a key recommendation,
the report suggests that excluding homo-
sexuals from protection undr bias crime
legislation - as has occurred in many states
- “either condones bias crimes against gays
and lesbians or suggests it does not exist.”

“Strategies are needed,” the report
asserts, “that will encourage legislatures to
include gays and lesbians in their statutes.”

The NH could now decide to follow up
on the study, formally called an “explora-
tory review,” with a more detailed investi-
gation, known as an “issues and practices
report.” Some gay activists are concerned
that the NH may decide against commis-
sioning a follow-up because of political
pressure from right-wing officials in the
Justice Department.

An NU spokesperson would say only,
“The report we have been given is under
review, and we don’tknow what we will do
about it in the future.” He declared that the
NH, which was created to undertake re-
search in the criminal justice field, “has no
political orientation of any kind.”

The Abt Associates report notes that
atiempts to enact bias crime laws that also

cover gays have been defeated in Illinois,
Minnesota, Oregon, and Washington.

. The report, which has not been for-
mally released, also observes that bias
crimes may be turning more violent, and it
cites the “visibility of gay men” as one
possible reason for the increasing propor-
tion of personal attacks as opposed to van-
dalism.

Only a handful of police and sheriff’s
departments make bias crime a priority:
Boston and New York have bias units that
expanded their jurisdiction to include anti-
gay violence; San Francisco, meanwhile,
makes “a concerted effort to address vio-
lence against gays” through the Mission
District police station. Even fewer district
attomey’s offices, the report declared, are
targeting bias crime.

The report states that there is a lack of
accurate data about bias crimes and that
most law enforcement agencies do not keep
separate records of such offenses. It also
notes that definitions of hate crimes vary
widely. Peter Finn, who with Taylor
McNeil wrote the report for Abt Associ-
ates, said the study’s statement that gay
men and lesbians are probably the most
frequent victims of hate violence is based
not on any scientific surveys - but on inter-

views with law enforcement officials, gay
groups, and other organizations.

The report, however, reiterates the
contention of gay organizations that bias
crimes are underreported. “Many victims
of bias crimes do not report incidents be-
cause they distrust the police, feel that the
incident is too minor or that the police
cannot do anything about it, have a lan-
guage barrier, fear retaliation by the of-
fender, or - in the case of gays and lesbians
- fear public exposure,” the report declares.

The document urges special training
forpolice andprosecutors in handling cases
of hate-motivated violence. The authors
note, for example, that prosecutors must
“leam how to deal with the ‘homosexual
panic’ or ‘gay advance’ defense in which
defendants claim self-defense or tempo-
rary insanity in response to a sexual ad-
vance to win lenient sentences or acquittals
when charged with assaulting or murdering
gay men.”

Whether the NH will move quickly to
undertake a more in-depth investigation of
the criminal justice system’s response to
hate crimes should be known within the
next few weeks. In the meantime, the issue
continues to be placed on various agendas.

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