A history of violence towards the LGBTQ Community in America
since Stonewall.
The horrific attack in Orlando killing 49 people and injuring 53 in June 2016 has led to a considerable amount of debate over the ideology of why the attacks happen. Various opinions have surfaced, with the predominant being that of “Radical Islamic Terrorism”. I will attempt to disavow this notion by detailing all of the reported attacks on the LGBTQ community since the Stonewall Riots in 1969.
The horrific attack in Orlando killing 49 people and injuring 53 in June 2016 has led to a considerable amount of debate over the ideology of why the attacks happen. Various opinions have surfaced, with the predominant being that of “Radical Islamic Terrorism”. I will attempt to disavow this notion by detailing all of the reported attacks on the LGBTQ community since the Stonewall Riots in 1969.
We start four years after the infamous police raids that
prompted the Stonewall Riots. The same year the LGBTQ community celebrated the
fourth Gay Pride. From there we take a chronological journey through the
violent history of assaults in the LGBT Community and the grim details involved
in each case.
June 24, 1973 – The Upstairs Lounge in New Orleans – An arson fire killed 32 people – This crime was never solved (Towerload, 2016). This case remains open and police do not anticipate a resolution. This was the worst attack on a gay bar in the United States until the Orland attack at Pulse on June 11, 2016.
June 24, 1973 – The Upstairs Lounge in New Orleans – An arson fire killed 32 people – This crime was never solved (Towerload, 2016). This case remains open and police do not anticipate a resolution. This was the worst attack on a gay bar in the United States until the Orland attack at Pulse on June 11, 2016.
November 18, 1980 – The Ramrod bar in Greenwich Village –
Ronald K. Crumpley opened fire outside the bar. Crumpley believed gay men were
agents of the devil who stalked him and tried to steal his soul. His father who
was a minister believed that Crumpley may have been a homesexual himself. (Towerload,
2016)
April 28, 1990 – Uncle Charlies in Greenwich Village – A
pipe bomb set off by El Sayyid A. Nosair injured three men. Nosair, a Muslin
Radical was accused and convicted of this crime. In a report from the New York
Times that he objected to homosexuality on religious grounds. (Towerload, 2016)
July 04, 1991 – Heaven Bar in Houston - Jon Christopher
Buice attacked and killed Paul Broussard after he and nine of his friends
attempted to gain entry into several gay bars in Montrose. Buice and two other
friends were attacked with multiple weapons, including a nail-studded board, a
knife, and kicked with steel toed boots. (Towerload, 2016)
February 21, 1997 – Otherside Lounge in Atlanta – Five
people were wounded when a nail-laden explosive device was detonated by Eric
Rudolph – he wrote in a statement that “like other humans suffering from
various disabilities homosexuals should not attempt to infect the rest of
society with their particular illness.” (Towerload, 2016)
September 22, 2000 – The backstreet Café in Roanoke – One
person was killed and six injured by Ronald Gay, who earlier in the evening asked
for directions to a gay bar so he could “shoot some people”. Gay stated that it
was his mission to make all gays move to San Francisco to end the AIDS crisis.
Lt. William Althoff quoted Gay as saying “he was shooting people to get rid of
faggots.” (Towerload, 2016)
July 30, 2006 – San Diego Gay Pride – Six men were attacked
by four men; James Carroll (24), Lyonn Tatum (18), Kenneth Lincoln (24) and a
unnamed Juvenile who was only 15. All six men survived the attack, however
every bone in Oscar Foster’s face was broken requiring reconstructive surgery.
Witnesses testified that the assailants used anti-gay slurs as they attacked
the victims with baseball bats and knives.
May 16, 2007 – Brew’s bar in Greenwich Village –Sean William
Kennedy was assaulted by 19-year old Stephen Moller. Kennedy was punched so
hard by Moller that it severed his brain stem, killing him. Moller fled the
scene to obtain medical treatment for his hand, and afterwards left a voice
mail on one of Kennedy’s friends phone saying “You tell your faggot friends
that when he wakes up he owes me $500 for my broken hand!” (Towerload, 2016) He
received a sentence of only five years, which was reduced to three because he
was a father.
March 07, 2008 – Snuggery’s Bar in New York – Lance Neve was
attacked by Jesse D. Parsons because Neve refused to shake his hand when he
stated “I’ve never shaken a gay man’s hand before” (Towerload, 2016). Neve
survived the attack but was treated for a fractured skull, nose, left eye
socket, upper jaw bone, and blood on the brain (Towerload, 2016) During the
trial, Parsons was quoted as saying “he didn’t mean to hurt Neve as badly as he
did, Neve deserved it.” (Towerload, 2016)
September 07, 2008 – be Bar Nightclub in Washington DC –
Randolph Hunter was beaten to death by Robert Hannah. Hannah was only sentenced
to 6 months in jail and ordered to pay $50 dollars in court costs (Towerload,
2016)
March 01, 2009 – Robert’s Lafitte Bar in Galveston –
Lawrence Henry Lewis III, Lawrneil Henry Lewis, and Alejandro Sam Gray threw
bricks through the windows injuring two men. The worst injured was Marc Bosaw
who received 12 staples in his head. Lt D.J. Alvarez stated that the trio
hurled homophobic insults, and later told police that their intent was to
target homosexuals (Towerload, 2016)
April 11, 2009 – Old Timer’s Tavern – Gloucester, MA –
Justin Goodwin was attacked by Jonathan Chadwick and William Chadwick. Earlier
in the evening at least five men yelling anti-gay slurs approached Goodwin, his
sister and her boyfriend. Shortly after the bouncer at the bar escorted the
three victims out the back door into the alley and locked the door behind them.
(Boston.com, 2009; dreamindemon, 2009) Goodwin suffered severe injuries in the
attack, which included broken jaw, nose, cheekbone and eye socket. His injuries
were so severe that he lost sight in his right eye and hearing in his right ear
(Boston.com, 2009; dreamindemon, 2009). Goodwin committed suicide two years
after the attack (Towerload, 2016)
October 02, 2010 – Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village –
Police state an unidentified man was attacked and beaten in the bathroom by
Matthew Francis and Christopher Orlando. Francis allegedly yelled “Get away
from me faggot. I don’t like gay people”. He then demanded money from the
victim and he and pushed him to the ground and punched him several times in the
face and chest (Brunswick, Deborah, 2010). During this time, it was reported
that the Orlando, the second assailant held the door to the bathroom closed,
preventing the victim from leaving (Brunswick, Deborah, 2010). Later Francis
refused to apologize to the victim stating “I’m not going to apologize because
I don’t know what I should be sorry for” (Towerload, 2016).
October 08, 2010 – Latin King Goonies Attack in New York – a
17-year old gay teen, a second teen and a 30-year old man wear attacked by
members of the Latin King Goonies street gang (Long, Coleen, 2010; BET, 2010).
Acfording to police the unidentified 17-year old teen was taken to an empty
apartment, stripped, beaten, and sodomized with a wooden plunger handle (Long,
Coleen, 2010; BET, 2010). During the attack the assailants were reported to be
yelling anti-gay insults and questioning him about an alleged relationship with
the 30-year old victim (Long, Coleen, 2010; BET, 2010). During the attack, the 17-year
old victim confessed to his relationship and provided information on the
30-year old victim’s whereabouts. Shortly after the assault, the assailants
arrived at the 30-year old victim’s home and discovered another teenage male
who also allegedly had a relationship with the older victim (Long, Coleen,
2010; BET, 2010). At approximately 8:30 p.m. the second teen was assaulted and
the older male who arrived an hour later to find the teenager tied to a chair
opposite the 17-year old male who was assaulted earlier (Long, Coleen, 2010;
BET, 2010). One of the teens was forced to burn the older male victim with
cigarettes, and the assailants beat and sodomized with a small baseball bat
(Long, Coleen, 2010). During the attack other assailants from the gang attacked
the another older male in the home and stole approximately $1,000.00 in cash,
and a 52-inch television (Long, Coleen, 2010).
October 17, 2010 – Ty’s bar and Julius bar in Greenwich
Village – Multiple people were attacked by Frederick Giunta. During the
attacks, Giunta as stated to be “hurling anti-gay remarks” (Towerload, 2016). In
the same month, at the Rainbow Dove Bar in Leicester City, England a man
sprayed Russel Banks with liquid fuel and threw a lit match on him, resulting
in third degree burns over 20 percent of his body (Towerload, 2016).
June 01, 2014 - R
Place in Seattle – Two men were murdered at gun point by Ali Muhammad Brown.
Brown confessed to the killings and was quoted as stating the “murders were a
bloody crusade to punish the U.S. Government for its foreign policies.”
(Towerload, 2016)
October 01, 2014 – Salon Bar in Minneapolis – Wayne Odegard
shot a man at outside the bar after seeing them kissing. Odegard admitted to
police that he screamed “fucking Faggots” before shooting one of the men, and
that “seeing two men kissing pisses him off”. He was also quoted reciting a
passage from Deuteronomy (Towerload, 2016).
March 22, 2016 – Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village – A transgender woman was groped and raped by an unidentified assailant in the bathroom claiming he only needed to wash his hands.
April 08, 2016 – Attack in West Hollywood – Corey Stedman was attacked by three unnamed men armed with a knife and gun as he was on his way to visit a friend in the early morning hours (Towerload, 2016). Stedman, who states he is not a homosexual, and an experienced boxer, received a broken nose and jaw in the altercation (Wehoville, 2016)
March 22, 2016 – Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village – A transgender woman was groped and raped by an unidentified assailant in the bathroom claiming he only needed to wash his hands.
April 08, 2016 – Attack in West Hollywood – Corey Stedman was attacked by three unnamed men armed with a knife and gun as he was on his way to visit a friend in the early morning hours (Towerload, 2016). Stedman, who states he is not a homosexual, and an experienced boxer, received a broken nose and jaw in the altercation (Wehoville, 2016)
June 11, 2016 – Pulse Bar in Orlando – 49 people were shot
to death and 53 more suffered gunshot wounds when Omar Marteen entered the club
armed with an AR-15, numerous rounds of ammunition, and at least one handgun.
The detaisl of this case are still being investigated by the leading hypothesis
is that Marteen was a tormented individual who was plagued by a severe
religious fanatic hate towards himself from being homosexual. Marteen was also
killed at the scene. (Jacob, Julia, 2016)
June 11, 2016 – Gay Pride in West Hollywood – 20-year old
Wesley Howell from Indiana was arrested by local police after discovering three
assault rifles, high-capacity magazines, ammunition, and a 5-gallon drum of
chemicals that could be used to create an explosive device. Residents contacted
police to report a suspicious person walking around in the early morning hours
(Shyong, et al., 2016). This case is still under investigation, however Howell
has a known history of gun charges, and was a homosexual (Shyong, et al., 2016)
References:
retrieved from: BET (2010)
http://www.bet.com/news/news/2010/10/08/national7ingangattackedgayrecruit2others.html
retrieved from: Boston.com (2009) http://archive.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/04/14/brothers_arrested_victim_calls_beating_gay_bashing/
Brunswick, Deborah (2010) retrieved form CNN News
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/10/05/new.york.gay.bar.assault/
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/10/05/new.york.gay.bar.assault/
retrieved from: Dreamindemon, (2009): http://www.dreamindemon.com/community/threads/jonathan-and-william-chadwick-are-gay-bashing-pricks.17367/
Jacob, Julia (2016) retrieved from ABC News
http://abcnews.go.com/US/details-emerge-orlando-nightclub-shooter-omar-mateen/story?id=39891550
http://abcnews.go.com/US/details-emerge-orlando-nightclub-shooter-omar-mateen/story?id=39891550
Long, Coleen (2010) retrieved from new York Police
Department
http://www.poconorecord.com/article/20101008/news/101009812
http://www.poconorecord.com/article/20101008/news/101009812
Shyong, Frank; Mejia, Brittany; Torres, Zahira; Winton,
Richard (2016) retrieved from The LA Times website:
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