Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1998 08:33:06 -1000 From: Mia H H Lam Subject: Fwd: ATROCITY (fwd) From: NSight4@aol.com Subject: ATROCITY Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1998 17:33:07 EDT TASK FORCE CONDEMNS SAVAGE BASHING; CHARGES RIGHT WING WITH INCREASE IN ANTI-GAY RHETORIC WASHINGTON, DC---October 9, 1998--- The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force condemned Tuesday's gay bashing in Laramie, Wyoming where a student was severely burned, beaten, and left to die. The Task Force linked the violence to an increased climate of anti-gay hostility and political attacks in nearby Fort Collins, the Wyoming legislature, and in the US Congress. "Anti-gay rhetoric and anti-gay violence go hand-in-hand," said Tracey Conaty, NGLTF communications director. "The right wing is creating the most hostile atmospheres for GLBT people in recent memory. Hate violence is a logical extension of these rhetorical, legislative, and electoral attacks, " she added. Matthew Shepard, a 22-year-old political science student at the University of Wyoming, was found tied to a fence the day after having been left to die by his assailants. He had burns on his entire body and had been beaten so severely with a blunt object that his skull was crushed. He is on a respirator at a nearby hospital in Fort Collins, CO. Shepard had been beaten recently and attributed the attack to his sexual orientation. In that attack, he suffered a broken jaw. The Task Force charges that right wing groups have fostered a climate conducive to such violence. This week in Fort Collins, Citizens for Constitutional Freedom, a right-wing opposition group ran a series of ads denouncing the measures and urging voters not to support "special rights" for homosexuals. A similar organization sponsored a forum with an "ex-gay" spokesperson, which claimed sexual orientation can be changed, and therefore does not deserve inclusion in Fort Collins' Human Rights Ordinance. Right wing forces in Wyoming have stymied passage of a hate crimes bill claiming it would give "special rights" to GLBT people. Nationally, right-wing organizations have hypocritically portrayed their anti-gay efforts as "compassionate and loving." In June, Senate majority leader Trent Lott compared homosexuality to kleptomania and sex addiction. Recent anti-gay measures in Congress were introduced while right-wing groups launched a major advertising campaign to "change" GLBT people. Just yesterday, these groups announced a series of TV ads seeking to "reject homosexuality and go on to live healthy normal lives." The Task Force has documented a link between increases in anti-gay violence and the escalation of anti-gay rhetoric during ballot initiative campaigns. Immediately before Colorado's Amendment 2 passed in 1992, Colorado activists documented a 129 percent increase in anti-gay assaults. In the two months following the vote, nearly 40 percent of the annual total was reported. Hattie Mae Cohen, a lesbian, and Brian Mock, a gay man, were killed when their home in Oregon was firebombed during that state's 1992 ballot battle. In Maine in 1995, incidents of anti-gay violence jumped to 10 during the six months of an anti-gay initiative campaign in 1995, compared to four incidents for the entire previous year. "When anti-gay rhetoric escalates, so does anti-gay violence. Hate crimes are a result of that intolerance," continued Conaty. "No one should condone violence against any group of people, nor should they contribute to an atmosphere that fosters such intolerance and violence." A bill languishing in Congress, the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, would make hate violence against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people and other minorities a federal crime. The Task Force urges Congress to swiftly pass this measure. -30- _____________________________________________________________________ Founded in 1973, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force works to eliminate prejudice, violence and injustice against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people at the local, state and national level. As part of a broader social justice movement for freedom, justice and equality, NGLTF is creating a world that respects and celebrates the diversity of human expression and identity where all people may fully participate in society.