Three Provincetown Hate Crimes Are Under Investigation

The Cape Cod Times Exposes Three Incidents Currently Under Investigation By Provincetown Police As Potential Hate Crimes Indicating that 2007 Was NOT "The Summer of Love" for This "Gay Friendly" Vacation Community

In today's Cape Cod Times, Mary Ann Bragg, staff writer, reports that there are currently THREE possible hate crimes under investigation by the Provincetown Police Department.   

Bragg's Article reads...Off-Cape resident Richard Hall, a gay man, was allegedly assaulted at around 12:45 a.m. on Sept. 10 near Court and Commercial streets after being called a "faggot."

A second gay man, Daniel Coburn, 42, of East Hartford, Conn., has told police he and others were called "faggots" by a young man on June 30, also near Court and Commercial streets. The alleged perpetrator also pushed other people, threatened Coburn and threw rocks at others, according to Coburn.

In the third incident under police scrutiny, two gay men were allegedly hit with bikes in late August by a group of local youths, Provincetown police Sgt. Carrie Lopes said.

If this information is not disturbing enough, the Cape Cod Times article goes on to say that Provincetown's last official "hate crime" was in 2004, down from 21 in 1991, according to town records and police.  Sgt. Lopes told the Cape Cod Times that Provincetown averages about five hate incidents a year. 

When KnowThyNeighbor first reported on the Gay-Bashing of Richard Hall last week, we drew heavy criticism from a small publication, The Cape Codder.  In the article, Steve Desroches devotes over half of his column space to presenting inaccuracies in my reporting (inaccuracies which I owned in my blog post) and to defending the Provincetown Police Department.  Desroches writes, "Aside from the crime that occured, the false information and innuendo that circulated has done significant damage to the reputation of the town and the police department." "Aside from the crime that occured?"!!!

I certainly can understand the need to discuss the role of bloggers in the world of journalism in this very powerful medium known as the internet, so Steve Desroches certainly has the right to question me, listen to my recorded audio with of the victim and ask how KnowThyNeighbor became the first point of contact and reaching out for Mr. Hall when it seemed to him that no one, especially the police, had his best interests in mind (of course Desroches did not contact me or ask for a statement).  But what I don't understand is the "Circle the Wagons" mentality of some people in Provincetown and the police presumably fueled by the fear of losing the bottom line $$$$. 

I want nothing better than to believe that LGBT people are safe in Provincetown.  I want to believe that the health and well-being of one solitary individual trumps the almighty dollar. I want to believe that the Provincetown Police do their job. I want to believe that the gay community has has a place to turn in times of crisis. I want to believe that the press shows the highest integrity. I want to believe that there aren't young people in Provincetown calling gay men faggots and causing them harm.  I want to believe that what happened to Richard Hall could never happen to me or to my husband, especially in a town like Provincetown.

I want to believe in alot of things...

Tom Lang, Director

 

Comments

[John Hosty-Grinnell]

I wonder if Mr. Coburn can provide a detailed description of his assailant? It would be interesting to see if this helps Mr. Hall remember who knocked him unconscious.

[Pat Gozemba]

Thanks, Tom, for once again having the integrity to admit when you made an error and moving on to pursue the real issue: what appears to be a stonewalling mentality and lack of concern about hate crimes on the part of the P-town police. You rightly question whether saving the "LGBT friendly" reputation of our favorite resort is really ethical when gay man are being bashed.

John Hosty-Grinnell suggests a strategy for getting to the attackers. Have the police thought about this? With more than a hint of irony in my voice, I ask how else can the media, the blogosphere, and forthright citizens help the Ptown police to their job?

[musclehippy]

Methinks P-Town needs more GAY/LESBIAN police officers AND judges!! Just a thought. =))

[Tudor586]

A particularly glaring error in the Cape Codder story is the statement that there have been "no reported hate crimes" since 2004. Is this a cover-up or is P-Town simply in denial over the true extent of hate crime there? It's notable that bashers seem to go for the out-of-towners. Perhaps from his residential perch the place seems safe to Steve Desrouches, but how about people from everywhere else? It is the confidence of out-of-town potential victims of anti-GLBT violence that needs to be restored.

[Tom]

Seems reminiscent of the initial denial over the sharks on Cape Cod in the movie, Jaws. The P-twon situation is no less biting, for sure!

[John Hosty-Grinnell]

Tudor586, I think Barry Scott would disagree with you. Provincetown needs to be much more vigilant in it's responses to people's complaints. If Steve Desrouches wants to bash Tom Lang about facts, perhaps he could at least get his own straight before opening up his yap.

Without Tom's rapid response to this newest issue with Richard Hall we would likely have never found out about these other crimes. If Tom had not pursued the Barry Scott assault it is likely Richard Hall would not have thought to contact Tom, and like all the other stories out there his would have been brushed off by broadcast and print media.

I see the attempts to discredit Tom as a selfish attempt to gain notoriety on his accomplishments, and I find that act dispicable. The infighting that occurs in the GLBT community is tiresome to say the least, and it is just as big a problem as the groups we advocate against.

We need unity, and that unity extends outside of the GLBT. Too bad it won't become a reality since we have people that are more interested in ripping others down than building up something productive of their own.

[John]

It seems to me that there is too much of a "don't rock the boat" attitude.

[Lula]

Fabricated fears about hate crime legislation

By Cornel West and Sylvia Rhue
September 25, 2007

AMERICANS who understand basic principles of justice have no problems with the hate crime bill known as the Matthew Shepard Act. This legislation, now awaiting a vote in the Senate, would finally protect the many citizens who are targeted for violence simply because of their sexual orientation and gender identity, and it would provide law enforcement the necessary resources to investigate bias-fueled brutality.

Unfortunately, some clergy across the nation have joined together to oppose this bill in an aggressive and divisive manner. For instance, conservative African-American leaders - most notably Bishop Harry Jackson of Maryland's Hope Christian Church - have been inundating the media and faith communities with the message that this legislation will allow police to storm into worship services and arrest clergy if they speak against being gay. They make the incendiary allegation that the bill will create "thought crimes" by punishing people for thinking ill of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.

The truth is that the Matthew Shepard Act protects all First Amendment rights. And, although that is a given, this bill goes out of its way to protect the free speech of ministers. Those pastors who wish to continue condemning and dehumanizing the gay community will be free to do so.

The hate crimes bill provides resources for the investigation of violent actions - not beliefs, thoughts, or words. The proposed federal statute does not punish nor prohibit free expression of one's religious beliefs. As University of Chicago law professor Geoffrey R. Stone recently concluded, "The argument of the pastors that the proposed legislation in any way threatens their right to preach their version of the Gospel is, to be frank, ridiculous."

Despite the ridiculousness of their claims, the powerful and cash-rich antigay lobby continues to mold opinion against this legislation with fear and falsehoods. Leaders like Jackson have used provocative "thought crime" arguments to obscure the truth that, according to the FBI, 1,017 people were the targets of violent crimes in 2005 because of their sexual orientation.

Their rhetoric steals attention away from the stories of gay couples being viciously beaten for holding each other's hand in public or a flight attendant sought out to be heinously murdered simply because he was gay.

These preachers don't care to hear the thousands of stories of lives and communities scarred by antigay violence. And, conveniently, those who bring up the reality that the Matthew Shepard Act is a constitutional and important means to prevent antigay violence are labeled by these clergy as "anti-Christian." The good intentions of this legislation have been greeted by malice by these manipulators of fact.

The efforts of antigay preachers and their supporters is not the way to create the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s vision of a "Beloved Community" - where we all strive to treat each other with respect and compassion.

The way to start building such a community is to listen to the words of Gordon Smith, the Republican senator from Oregon who is cosponsoring the Matthew Shepard Act. Before his fellow senators, Smith declared, "I believe that the moral imperative that underpins hate crimes legislation is simply this, and it comes from sacred writ: that when people are being stoned in the public square, we ought to come to their rescue."

In supporting the noble imperatives of the Matthew Shepard Act, we all have the chance to work toward a community that protects and respects the lives and dignity of all citizens instead of bows to falsehoods and bigotry.

Cornel West is a professor at Princeton University. Dr. Sylvia Rhue is director of Religious Affairs at the National Black Justice Coalition in Washington.

[Lula]

Is it me, or is it about time the alarmist homophobes start worrying more about pedarist heterosexual female teachers in the school system and less about gay teachers?

Another one!

Teacher charged with having sex with teen
Story Highlights

Ex-teacher is third in S. C. county to be accused of having sex with teen

Karen Robbins, 49, was arrested over the weekend

Letters found at middle school turned over to police

She is free on $90, 000 bail

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (AP) -- A former teacher was charged with having sex with a teenage boy, the third teacher in the same county accused of such crimes in the past year and a half, authorities said Monday.

Karen Robbins, 49, was arrested over the weekend and charged with three counts each of criminal sexual conduct with a minor and committing a lewd act on a child.

The sex occurred with a 15-year-old in her car and twice at her home between September and November 2005, according to arrest warrants.

Robbins was a private school teacher at the time, and officials said the accusations did not involve one of her students.

Robbins was released from jail on a $90,000 bail.

Messages left at a telephone listing for a Karen Robbins in Clinton and with the county public defender's office were not immediately returned.

Police said they began investigating after school officials turned over letters in July found at Bell Street Middle School, where Robbins worked during the 2006-2007 school year.

Earlier this month, Allena Ward, also a former Bell Street Middle teacher, pleaded guilty to having sex with five teenage boys, some of them students where she taught.

Wendie Ann Schweikert, a former elementary school teacher in Laurens County, was sentenced in June to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to having sex with an 11-year-old student. Ward has not yet been sentenced.

"You're concerned as a parent. You're concerned as a citizen and concerned as a prosecutor that these events keep being uncovered," said solicitor Jerry Peace, who prosecuted Ward and Schweikert.

The now-17-year-old boy in Robbins' case, a former student at Bell Street Middle, is cooperating with authorities, Peace said.

[John]

When these kind of cases happen, the homophobes, correctly in my view, consider them individual, isolated cases. If the perp is gay, they see it as an indictment of all gays.

[Lula]

Absolutely, John. That's why I posted this story...to make some of those people think.

Then again, in the past, I've found that's often asking too much.

[John]

Speaking of double standards, Lula, check your mail.

[ryan charisma]

Maybe women shouldn't be teachers if all they do is think about recruiting teen-aged boys for sex?

[John]

"Maybe women shouldn't be teachers if all they do is think about recruiting teen-aged boys for sex?"

I LOL'd

[John]

In America, we don't subscribe to "let the punishment fit the crime". In America we fit the punishment to the criminal.

[Lula]

OnlyTheFacts, no matter how you color it, you just don't want legitimate protection for us.

*** The reason this legislation is necessary is to combat the byproducts of your folks' anti-gay rhetoric. ***

You should be ashamed of yourselves. You really should be.

[John]

"Fact: John's previous statement is naive his point is false."

Are you not aware that we have had Federal hate crime legislation on the books since 1968?

Do you really not know how punishment is adjusted by a judge, based on the circumstance of the crime and the circumstances of the criminal?

[John]

"Fact: Just because a law has been on the books for 40 years does not make it just or correct."

Of course. But you were talking like we were totally ignorant of how justice is done in this country.

[ryan charisma]

Yeah, OnlyTheFacts -

Although I do concur with you thinking that rape is rape and murder is murder. This is very true, but then again... OJ Simpson.

So now that your fact(s) is/are blown to hell because of flaws in our judicial system. This Matthew Shepard Act will help put the system back on track.

Besides, nobody but gays have Bubba and his friends with baseball bats seeking out victims to beat to a)death, b)until hospitalized or c) help arrives. Does this happen randomly to YOUR peers, because it does to mine. So your cavilier attitude towards heinous crimes committed against the gay population is 'out of line.'

It would appear to me that anyone who knows of the suffering gays & lesbians go through wouldn't question this effort. You obviously don't care about us enough to protect us from this certain harm. I would invite you to hang out for a few months with some gay men. Hear the horror stories, perhaps witness some verbal or physical abuse in public places.

Then, and only then will I even entertain the notion that this Matthew Sheppard Act is in some way a unneccessary law. How could it be? I mean really. Are you that much of a bigot that you'll lie to yourself that there aren't people out there trying to hurt gays more than you are right now with your homophobic reasoning away of this entire matter?

Walk a mile in my shoes, then we'll talk dumbass.

[Lula]

Ryan, you go!!!

Absolutely.

"It would appear to me that anyone who knows of the suffering gays & lesbians go through wouldn't question this effort."

OnlyTheFacts? The fact is you're a fucking asshole.

Might I point out, too, that, arguably, this legislation could be a most effective response/counter to the lame and cowardly "gay panic" defense gaybashers often make.

YES, we do need this legislation!!!

God, you are a HUGE asshole.

[Lula]

RYAN SAID:

"I would invite you to hang out for a few months with some gay men. Hear the horror stories, perhaps witness some verbal or physical abuse in public places."

RESPONSE:

Four years ago, on a summer night, in the South End of Boston where several shops and other establishments donned rainbow flags, I walked home from a night of dancing holding my then boyfriend's hand.

A Jeep Cherokee filled with what looked like college or post-college kids stopped about thirty feet away from us. The driver, a burly blonde loudmouth, shouted at us from the vehicle:

"You faggots make me fucking SICK!!! You should all get AIDS and be sent to a fucking island to die!!! I fucking hate you!!!"

verbatim

My boyfriend and I kept walking as I responded, "blah, blah, blah."

His response was to turn the vehicle off and start to get out of the car. A few of his passenger's, all female, pleaded with him to get in the car and to not pursue us.

The moment was intense and I was scared out of my mind, as the guy looked like he could have been a linebacker.

Had those girls not been in the car, he most certainly would have come after us and beat the crap out of us. He was rageful and determined. His friends prevented what I know would have been a physical gaybashing.

All I could think of was my friend out in California who had been hit over the head by a pipe and severely beaten by a trio of thug punks who just had it out for gays.

Another friend's friend was beaten up one Saturday night after exiting a gay dance club.

I've certainly had several other incidents of being verbally assaulted by asshole bigots.

Again:

""You faggots make me fucking SICK!!! You should all get AIDS and be sent to a fucking island to die!!! I fucking hate you!!!"

OnlyTheFacts, lose your "facts" and get a fucking clue, because as of right now, you contribute to these kinds of incidents...to which I directly respond, "Fuck you."

[ryan charisma]

I rest my case.

[John]

Another thing to keep in mind. A person who commits a crime because of his/her hatred for a particular group is a more dangerous criminal than one who commits a non-bias crime against an individual, if for other reason than he/she is more likely to re-offend.

Most conservatives understand this intuitively. That is why most conservatives fully support hate crime legislation that protects people against bias crimes based on religion, race, color, etc.

The only reason they object to adding sexual orientation is anti-gay bias.

And I don't think most conservatives are really opposed on principle. They are buying the bigot vote.

[John]

Pleas read Jane Know's commentary on the Little Rock Nine.

http://fallacyfindings.blogspot.com/2007/09/and-why-apathetic-masses-are-just-as.html

[Lula]

"The only reason they object to adding sexual orientation is anti-gay bias."

BINGO