From: NGLTF@aol.com Date: Fri, 15 Dec 1995 01:01:18 -0500 Subject: Statement on Oregon Developments ************************************************* National Gay and Lesbian Task Force NEWS RELEASE 2320 17th St NW, Washington, DC 20009; (202) 332-6483 ************************************************* STATEMENT ON RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN OREGON SLAYINGS: MURDERS ARE WAKE UP CALL TO CONNECTION BETWEEN ANTI-GAY INITIATIVES AND INCREASED VIOLENCE Washington, D.C., December 14, 1995...Law enforcement agents in Medford, OR, and in Stockton, CA, have announced the arrest of Robert Acremant, 27, in the murders of Roxanne Ellis and Michele Abdill. The openly lesbian couple was abducted and killed "execution stytle" in Medford, Oregon, the week of Dec. 4. Press reports indicate individuals close to Acremant, an Air Force veteran with a master's in business administration, claim the killings were not hate motivated but were the result of a "botched robbery." The San Francisco Examiner (Dec. 14) reported that relatives of the slain women in Medford this week said they don't believe robbery was the sole motive. Following is a statement on the recent developments by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, attributable to Robert Bray, NGLTF Field Organizer (portions of this statement are excerpted from a statement released by activists in Medford). NGLTF has worked with activists in the Medford area during this murder case and in the past, including the battle to defeat the anti-gay ballot measure in 1994. The Task Force has appealed to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno to monitor the case and to investigate the connection between anti-gay ballot initiatives, anti-gay hate rhetoric and anti-gay violence. *** We support the local community in Medford as it struggles to fully understand the truth of why Roxanne Ellis and Michele Abdill, two brave and courageous women, were killed. Although a suspect has been apprehended, much to the relief of all who knew the couple, we as a community have many unanswered questions and persistent concerns. Like many in the Medford community, our concerns and suspicions about the motives of this crime cannot be fully assuaged until we understand the connection between anti-gay prejudice and the risk of hate crimes against gay people. These murders occurred in a volatile climate of escalating tensions against gays and lesbians, women and other minorities. What is the connection between anti-gay hate rhetoric that dehumanizes lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people, and violence against us? The community wants and needs answers. We need answers to heal. We need answers to plan for our safety. We must understand the true nature of the threat to our communities. Regardless of the actual motives of this particular case, it serves as a wake-up call about the connection between anti-gay initiatives and anti-gay violence. An increase in reported incidents of anti-gay and lesbian violence has been documented. For example, in the years since anti-gay initiatives emerged on the scene in Oregon, Colorado, Idaho and Maine, and made national headlines, anti-gay murders have almost doubled. A total of 151 known anti-gay murders were reported to gay victim assistance groups nationwide from January 1992 to December 1994. Some 59 murders happened in 1994 alone, up from 30 in 1992. In 1992, the Lesbian Community Project in Portland, OR, tallied 968 incidents of anti-gay violence. Measure 9, defeated by voters, was introduced in Oregon that year by the Oregon Citizens Alliance and included sensationalistic rhetoric such as bestiality and other homosexual "perversities." Reports of anti-gay violence in Colorado rose 129 percent from 1991, when 89 such incidents were documented, to 1992, with 204 reports recorded. Colorado's Amendment 2 passed in 1992. In November and December immediately following the vote, the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Colorado received 40 percent of its bias violence reports for 1992. And most recently, the Maine Gay and Lesbian Political Alliance (MGLPA) reported at least 10 known anti-gay incidents between June and October 1995, the height of the anti-gay Measure One campaign, compared to four incidents in all of 1994. It's no wonder gay people are suspicious and concerned. We live in a political climate where the public has been invited to vote on the legal status of gays and lesbians in numerous elections. We must endure pervasive, unchecked hate rhetoric -- including that aired on local extremist radio stations in the Medford area -- that perpetuates myths and stereotypes of gay people. We must constantly battle for our safety and equality in our own towns. And that is why we must remain vigilant. Our vigilance in Medford, and around the nation, will ensure that victims of hate crimes will come forward. The gay and lesbian and human rights communities in Medford intend to stand proud and active. For example, they have joined with Medford Mayor Jerry Lausmann in calling for a "hate free zone" in their town; they are moving forward with the building of a local community center and will name it in honor of the slain lesbian activists; and they are screening "Not In Our Town," an inspirational video documentary about challenging hate bias. We call on our political leaders on the state and national levels to fully investigate these crimes. We have asked Janet Reno, U.S. Attorney General, to monitor the case in Oregon, and to investigate the correlation between hate rhetoric, hostile ballot campaigns and attacks on women, people of color and gays, lesbians and bisexuals. We want our suspicions to be assuaged and we need our concerns to be laid to rest so we can move on in peace. But as long as we must live in fear -- a fear fueled by pervasive anti-gay and lesbian hate rhetoric, anti-gay ballot measures that would deny us our civil rights, and escalating anti-gay violence -- we must maintain our vigilance. ### Editor's Note: For more information about the award-winning video documentary, "Not In Our Town," contact the California Working Group, producers, at (510)547- 8484.