Teen Sentenced In Beating Of Gay Boy

KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN - One of two teens accused of beating a gay 15-year-old Portage boy was sentenced Monday to take part in a special program at the Kalamazoo County Juvenile Home that could last nine months.
The 16-year-old defendant also was ordered to obtain anger-management counseling, pay victim restitution and write a letter of apology to the victim, Steven Harmon, said Karen Hayter, division leader for assistant prosecuting attorneys in the Family Division of Kalamazoo County Circuit Court.
Steven was punched repeatedly by the 16-year-old boy and a 15-year-old boy in mid-August in a Portage parking lot.
Steven has said that the attackers called him "faggot," "queer" and other derogatory terms.
The 16-year-old defendant, whom the Gazette is not identifying because of his age, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault. He has been held in the Juvenile Home since Aug. 13, Hayter said.
The 15-year-old boy also is charged with aggravated assault. His next court date is Oct. 5.
Steven has said that he and a 17-year-old female friend and her 5-year-old nephew were walking home when he was hit in the head and face about 20 times by the two boys. His friend eventually shielded him from more punches.
from The Kalamazoo Gazette

Defendant Testifies In Anti-Gay Beating And Robbery Case

DALLAS TEXAS - State District Judge Ernie White allowed the defense to reopen its case this morning so that the defendant, Bobby Singleton, could testify about beating and robbing Jimmy Dean at gunpoint in July 2008.
Singleton, now 30, said he and his friend, Jonathan Gunter, did not attack Dean because he was gay. Although in his confession to police, Singleton said: "We figured they would be easier targets because their [sic] are a lot of homosexuals around the area,"
Singleton, who uttered slurs as he kicked and beat Dean in July 2008, said they went to Oak Lawn because "we figured they wouldn't put up as much of a fight."
He also defended his use of the word "faggot," saying that was a word you would say to anyone during a fight.
Singleton's attorney, Ed "Bubba" King, asked if Singleton was "angry, frustrated and drunk" and "would have beat up anybody." Singleton said he would have.
He also offered an apology to Dean from the witness stand. He said that he is "ashamed of what I did." He said many things were going wrong in his life. His girlfriend left him and took their child. He had problems at work. So, he started drinking and using drugs.
He said that none of this is an excuse.
"I think about it every day," Singleton said. "And I am truly sorry and I would like to say to Mr. Dean that I'm sorry for what I did."
Twice on cross examination, Dallas County prosecutor Marshall McCallum asked Singleton to demonstrate how he beat Dean.
The first time, Singleton stood in front of the jury box and violently stomped his right foot on the ground.
The second time, Singleton got on the ground on all fours and demonstrated how he used his knee to hit Dean in the head.
from The Dallas Morning News

Homosexual Group Founder Given Federal Education Department Post

WASHINGTON DC - The founder of the homosexual activist group GLSEN, which promotes homosexual clubs in high schools, middle schools and grade schools and is the driving force behind the annual "Day of Silence" celebration of homosexuality in many districts, has been handed a federal appointment where he will be responsible for overseeing "safety" in the nation's public schools.
Linda Harvey of Mission America, which educates people on anti-Christian trends in the nation, said it is nothing more than a "tragedy" for an open homosexual who has "had an enormously detrimental impact on the climate in our schools" to be in such a position.
The appointment of Kevin Jennings was posted – with little fanfare – on a government list of federal jobs recently. He was named by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan to be the Assistant Deputy Secretary in the Office of Safe Schools.
He previously worked to raise money for the presidential campaign for President Obama.
In the new post, he'll be working on "safe schools" programs for educational institutions
nationwide, said Harvey.
"In his own writings and books listed on the GLSEN [Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network] Website, I've reported, Kevin Jennings has given tacit nods of approval to sex between young teens and adults," Harvey told WND. "In addition to that, the writings and books, many of which I've read and are incredibly graphic, seem to normalize early teen same-sex sexual behaviors."
"It is unconscionable. This is educational malpractice and child corruption," she said.
On Jennings' own website, a biographical sketch talks about how his work as an activist started when he used a school assembly in a district where he was a teacher to announce his homosexuality.
He soon started the GLSEN activist group and, the report said, "has spent the last 12 years building GLSEN into a national organization at the forefront of a bold movement that now works with over 3,000 Gay-Straight Alliances."
But a blogger who calls himself Beetle Blogger cited another statement from Jennings about his early promotion of homosexuality in schools.
The blogger quoted Jennings saying, "We immediately seized upon the opponent's calling card – safety – and explained how homophobia represents a threats to students' safety by creating a climate where violence, name-calling, health problems, and suicide are common. Titling our report, 'Making Schools Safe for Gay and Lesbian Youth,' we automatically threw our opponents onto the defensive and stole their best line of attack. This … short-circuited their arguments and left them back-peddling from day one."
Harvey said the appointment really is not surprising, given the pro-homosexual position adopted by Obama and Jennings' fund-raising for the Democrat.
But she warned when "safe" is combined with "LGBT" as is happening at the federal agency, "What you have is the silencing of any conservative opinion. That's what they consider safety."
"This is an outrageous 'in-your-face, take this, we don't care about your version of safety' for kids," she said.
She also cited the introduction in Congress of H.R. 2262 by U.S. Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., which is "to amend the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act" to include pro-homosexual language that could use the issue of bullying to force indoctrination sessions for both students and teachers.
The proposed training would relate to "real or perceived" sexual orientation and gender identity, she said.
"How does this work? Well, let's look at an example from a state that already passed a similar law. In Iowa, teachers in some school districts endure the most outrageous in-service training imaginable. The Council Bluffs, Iowa, school district, Loess Hills Area Education Agency 13, gives a two-day teacher training course called 'How to Make My Classroom Safe for LGBT Students.' As part of the training, 'Videos will be used from Anderson Cooper 360, 'Will & Grace,' and several popular film segments like 'Brokeback Mountain' and 'Latter Days,''" Harvey said.
"This man's work and his agenda are exactly why we've seen the radical pro-homosexuality curriculum
pushed across California. He is now more strongly positioned to implement his agenda nationwide," said Karen England, executive director of Capitol Resource Institute.
In Duncan's announcement appointing Jennings, he said GLSEN "works to make schools safe for all students, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity."
from World Net Daily

'Top Chef' Contestant Attecked In Gay Bashing

A former contestant on Bravo's "Top Chef" was beaten by attackers yelling anti-gay slurs, her lawyer said.
Josie Smith-Malave, who was featured on the second season of the reality show, was among a small group of women who were asked to leave a Sea Cliff bar over Labor Day weekend, lawyer Yetta Kurland said Tuesday.
About 10 young people followed the women and began screaming anti-gay epithets, spitting on them and then beating them, Kurland said.
Smith-Malave, who is in her early 30s, is openly gay, Kurland said.
Nassau County police said they were investigating, but declined to provide details of the incident.
Smith-Malave, a Miami native, is a former sous-chef for Marlow and Sons restaurant in Brooklyn. She has played for the New York Sharks of the Independent Women's Football League.
from The Associated Press

Gay Teen Attacked By Fellow High School Students

PUEBLO, COLORADO - An openly gay high school student in Pueblo was assaulted by six of his fellow students last week because of his sexual orientation, his family said Tuesday.
The attack happened last Thursday while the 15-year-old boy was walking home from Centennial High School, his mother, Theresa Ornelas, said.
Anthony Hergesheimer was alone when a vehicle with six teenagers inside passed him four times along Denver Boulevard.
The vehicle finally stopped and someone threw objects at him and shouted derogatory insults at him, Ornelas said.
"One of the boys got out and he hit me on my eye, right on my face with a full can of Lysol," Hergesheimer said. "My nose just started gushing everywhere."
Hergesheimer said he ran to a nearby house for help.
He suffered a black eye, severe damage to his face and a broken nose. He must undergo surgery on his nose and forehead Wednesday, Ornelas said.
Hergesheimer said he was attacked because he is openly gay.
"I'm very upset. Yeah, my son is gay. But that shouldn't matter. He should be proud of who he is," Ornelas said.
"It's frustrating. We can get mad, (but) at the end, they will get what they deserve," said Hergesheimer's stepfather Michael Ornelas.
Hergesheimer said taunting began at school earlier in the day.
"They said things to me like, 'You, fag, this and you, fag, that,' and then they walked off," he said.
Ornelas said her son had also received a threatening e-mail prior to the attack.
"We are looking into it. It's an assault that we are calling a hate crime," said deputy chief John Ereul of the Pueblo Police Department.
Three of the six suspects have been interviewed and all three admitted to the crime, police said. Police said because of the seriousness of the case, felony charges could be filed.
The school district was alerted to the incident and conducted its own investigation. The Pueblo City Schools then suspended the six students in question.
"Students are considered in the jurisdiction or care of the district en route to or form school until they cross their front door," said district spokesman Greg Sinn. "Given the level of violence involved and apparently being a bias-motivated crime, Pueblo City Schools is taking this matter very seriously. The findings of our investigation may be result in a recommendation of expulsion for all six suspects."
The school district has 25 days to make a recommendation to the superintendent and conduct hearings in cases of expulsion. It is likely that the six suspects will be placed on extended suspension pending the outcome of the investigation.
Hergesheimer said he will return to school next week, and he said he feels confident that the majority of his classmates will accept him.
"You shouldn't be afraid to be who you are. Of course there will be people who won't agree with you," he said. "But you shouldn't be scared to be who you are."
"You can't sit and cry about it. It's not going to change what happened to him," Theresa Ornelas said. "He has no choice but to move forward. And if his story can help someone else, then so be it. That's all I want from this."
from The Denver Channel

Italy Rocked By 'Gay' Suicide

ROME - Italy has been rocked by the suicide of a teenager who was subjected to anti-gay taunts at school.
"They can't accept me because I'm different," the 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said in a note before throwing himself out of a window earlier this week.
Although the student's sexuality is still a mystery, gay movements and leftwing parties urged Education Minister Giuseppe Fioroni to do something to combat an alleged rise in homophobia in school and society at large.
Two of the Communist parties in Premier Romano Prodi's centre-left government claimed the reported rise in anti-gay feeling was linked to the Catholic Church's campaign to stop cohabiting gays getting civil and economic rights as partners in a pact called Dico.
On Friday Italy's gay association Arcigay and the national union of school and university students announced a 'Stop Homophobia' Day on April 11 and urged Minister Fioroni not to attend a Church-backed 'Family Day' against draft Dico legislation next month.
Ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party urged politicians not to score anti-Dico points, "consciously or not," in the wake of the tragedy.
"Pro and anti-Dico politicians can only express disgust at what happened".
The Vatican has not commented on the case.
According to Italy's Gay Help Line, more than one third of the calls it gets are from students distressed by taunting and bullying at school.
On Friday homophobic graffiti was sprayed across the front of a well-known gay and lesbian bookshop in Milan.
Also on Friday, the Rome chapter of Arcigay claimed that local priests were pressuring mothers to have their gay children exorcised.
Arcigay also complained about RAI state TV broadcaster news reports implying that the dead boy was picked on not because he was gay but because he was seen as a 'swot'.
The dead student, of Italian and Filipino origin, was reportedly top of his class.
Teachers described him as "particularly sensitive".
The head of the school told Italian TV that he had only complained once of bullying, at the start of last year.
from ANSA

SF Officers Accused Of Abusing Gay Man Won't Face Discipline

SAN FRANCISCO - Three police officers accused of verbally abusing and assaulting a gay man they caught urinating in the street will not face possible discipline because the department missed the deadline to take action.
At a meeting Wednesday, police commissioners expressed frustration at the department's delay while approving an $83,000 tentative settlement of the man's civil rights lawsuit over the 2004 incident.
"You are talking about a hate crime - it's just a tragedy that the department is unable to do anything about it because it dropped the ball so early on," Commissioner Joe Veronese said, referring to the expired one-year statute of limitations for disciplinary action.
Andrew Marconi, of Sacramento, said in the lawsuit that three officers confronted him at 2:15 a.m. on March 7, 2004, as he urinated outside a San Francisco nightclub.
Two of them began using anti-gay slurs against him, he said.
"You peeing on my streets? Do you think we want your AIDS-infected pee on our streets?" Sgt. Jason Fox asked Marconi, according to the lawsuit.
The man was forced to kneel down into his urine, and Fox slammed his head into a wall and used his hair to clean the urine off the wall, the suit said. Fox and Officer Simon Chan then stripped off Marconi's shirt, used it to mop up the remaining waste and threatened him with more violence if he was ever caught urinating in public again, it said.
The alleged abuse only stopped when Marconi's friend, an off-duty Stockton police officer, walked up and showed his badge, prompting the officers to leave.
Fox and Chan both denied any abuse in court documents, and Fox claimed Marconi was drunk that night. The third officer at the scene, who did not engage in the alleged abuse, said in the documents that he saw no wrongdoing.
The city attorney has said there was no evidence to support Marconi's claims.
The case never was investigated for possible disciplinary action because Marconi failed to notify the Office of Citizen Complaints, the civilian police watchdog agency. Following its own investigation, the office would forward its findings to the police chief and commission for further action, but none of that ever happened.
The settlement still must go before the city's Board of Supervisors for approval.
from Mercury News

Gay Couple Beaten By Group At Restaurant

ARIZONA - Scottsdale police are investigating a suspected hate crime reported by a gay couple who said they were jumped by as many as seven men outside a Scottsdale restaurant near McDowell and Scottsdale roads.
As they held hands and began to leave Frasher's Steakhouse late Sunday, Jean Rolland and Andrew Frost said they were beaten in the restaurant's entryway.
Rolland and Frost said that, as they left the restaurant, two men headed into the eatery. One of the assailants called the couple a derogatory term. It was unclear whether any weapons were used in the attack.
Frost, 19, was taken to Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn, where he was treated and released. Frost received several staples to treat a wound on his scalp and several stitches to seal other wounds on his face.
Rolland, 28, suffered minor injuries.
The men want to press charges against their attackers, none of whom had been arrested as of Monday afternoon, according to Scottsdale police.
"My only hope is that they're going to brag about it and tell their friends how tough they were," said Rolland, a native of France who lives part time in Scottsdale.
The Sunday-night incident was upsetting, he said, because no one from the restaurant said they saw anything, though the attacked happened only a few feet from the front door.
"It was creepy to me," said Frost, a Scottsdale resident.
"I had blood pouring out of me, and I actually blacked out at one point."
Scottsdale police confirmed the assault about 8 p.m. at the restaurant at 2122 N. Scottsdale Road.
George Frasher, owner of the restaurant, said he was shocked to hear about the attack, which started near the entrance before spilling out into the parking lot.
Rolland and Frost brought the assault to the attention of the Arizona Human Rights Fund and Foundation, a Phoenix-based non-profit organization that advocates for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights.
The organization, which has lobbied the Legislature for stricter penalties involving hate crimes, will follow the Scottsdale police investigation to determine if the attack was triggered by anti-gay sentiments.
from AZ Central

Gay Hate Crime Attack Turns Out To Be Self Inflicted

BOISE, IDAHO - The Boise State student who reported being beaten on the Greenbelt last week, now says the attack never happened.
The student, a 20-year-old man, first told police he had been targeted and beaten because he was gay. He made the claim a week ago, saying he had been attacked on the Greenbelt near the BSU campus. He said several other students beat him up.
He said made it clear they targeted him because of his sexual orientation.
In response to the report of an on-campus attack, BSU administration issued a safety alert. The student government organized a huge rally on Tuesday and this candlelight vigil was held Wednesday -- both to speak out against hate and show support for the alleged victim.
That student confessed to police today he wasn't beat up by others, but used sticks and his own fists to self-inflict his injuries. The 20-year-old had also initially reported his car was vandalized with anti-gay statements, but now police say all other evidence the student claimed was connected to the attack was fabricated.
Very soon after he reported being beaten up, the student sent out two e-mails asking the media not to give the incident any more attention, saying he “wanted it to go away.”
It may be too late for that. Boise police say they will turn over all the information they have to Ada County prosecutors, who could charge the student with filing a false police report.
Filing a false police report is a misdemeanor with a penalty of up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
NewsChannel 7 contacted many of the students who spoke openly at the rally and vigil this week, but they said they had no comment after learning the initial report was made up.
Boise police say they want to reassure the public and Boise State community that police patrol the Greenbelt near campus daily and safety is consistently a top priority.
Meanwhile, Boise State University released this statement today after learning the outcome of the police investigation:
This has been a difficult time for Boise State University. We are supporting the student any way we can with counseling services and through the help of his friends, family and university staff. We appreciate the work of the Boise Police Department. It is a relief to know that this assault did not take place on the Greenbelt near campus. The administration remains committed to a safe and secure environment for its students, faculty, staff and visitors.
The campus community and the Boise Police Department took this report seriously and investigated it as a suspected bias incident. In the past week, actions included issuing a safety alert, a rally on the Quad and a candlelight vigil about civility and tolerance, jointly organized by the students and the university. The administration recognizes that its efforts need to be ongoing to further develop a campus climate of respect and inclusiveness.
from KTVB

4 Convicted of Gay Beating In St. Maarten

PHILIPSBURG, ST. MAARTEN - Four French nationals were convicted Thursday of beating two gay American tourists in this Dutch Caribbean island and were sentenced to between six months and six years in prison.
One of the victims, Ryan Smith, suffered brain damage and could not speak properly for six months after he was attacked with a tire iron in April. Smith and the second victim, Richard Jefferson, were employees of CBS News in New York at the time of the attack.
Three citizens of the French part of the island - Glen Cockly, Micheline Delaney and Allan Daniel - and a man from the nearby French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, Michel Javois, were found guilty of public violence and causing grievous bodily harm.
Jefferson said it was a hate crime. But prosecutor Taco Stein described it as "meaningless violence."
Judge Jan Bosch determined that Javois attacked the Americans with a tire iron as they left a bar with friends on April 6 while vacationing in St. Maarten.
Javois received a six-year prison sentence, while Cockly and Daniel got three-year terms.
Delaney, who was accused of kicking one of the victims while he was on the ground, will spend six months in prison. Stein said she tried to stop the attack and had expressed remorse.
The island, a popular Caribbean tourist destination, is shared by France and the Netherlands.
The Holland Sentinel

S.F. Rethinking Halloween Bash After Shooting

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - It is practically an autumn ritual, here in California's most festive city.
On Halloween night, hundreds of thousands of revelers descend on the Castro district, overwhelming the landmark gay neighborhood and wreaking havoc. The next morning, frustrated city officials try to figure out what went wrong and how to avoid problems in the future.
But on Wednesday, after nine people were shot and another suffered head wounds during the annual street party, Mayor Gavin Newsom declared on early-morning radio that "we've got a lot of work to do to look at this event anew."
Two of the victims were admitted to area hospitals, while eight were treated and released, police said. Newsom said most of the gunshot wounds were to the hands, feet and knees of the victims, although two people had been grazed in the head.
Sgt. Neville Gittens, spokesman for the San Francisco Police Department, said the altercation began shortly after 10:30 p.m. when two groups of teenagers and young adults — about 30 people in all — faced off on Market Street and began staring each other down.
A member of one group hit a rival over the head with a bottle, Gittens said, then a member of the second group took out a handgun and started shooting. One person was detained and then released Tuesday night. There have been no arrests, and he said the shootings were not gang-related.
Newsom described the incident as a "verbal dispute" that escalated when some "younger folks threw a few things back and forth and then they pulled out their guns…. It was a small group of people that are not there for the right reasons who somehow sneaked some guns inside."
The "right reasons" for being in the Castro district on Halloween have been called into question in recent years, after the 2002 celebration ended with four stabbings, 30 arrests and the revelation that a celebrant had brought a chain saw to the festivities.
Since then, security has been increasingly tightened. On Tuesday night, sheriff's deputies staffed secure entrances and exits, outside alcohol was banned, police presence was increased 25%, stages for entertainment were cut from three to one, and an 11 p.m. curfew was enforced.
At a news conference the day before Halloween, Supervisor Bevan Dufty, who represents the Castro district, said 2006 would be a "transition" year for the street celebration. Revelers needed to be kept safe, he said, and then officials must rethink the holiday because of increasing "gang problems and gay bashing."
Dufty, who is up for reelection, floated the idea in July of canceling Halloween in the Castro district because of safety concerns. After the shooting, city officials, including Newsom, said they were considering that option.
On Wednesday, Dufty's opponent, attorney Alix Rosenthal, blasted Dufty on her campaign website, deriding current security measures as "poor planning, backroom decision-making and a poor use of police resources." She also called for a public hearing.
Dufty did not return calls for comment.
Jennifer Petrucione, a spokeswoman for Newsom, acknowledged that "what was once very much a community event has changed. That needs to be considered when planning. But when you have a single bad actor in a crowd of over 200,000 people, something bad is bound to happen."
from The Los Angeles Times

'Net A New Chilling Gay-Bashing Weapon

NEW YORK - Sickening violence against homosexuals is nothing new, but using the Internet to lure victims elevates attacks from random hate to premeditated evil, experts say.
Last week, interior designer Michael Sandy was lured to a gay hookup spot in Brooklyn, allegedly by a group of thugs who exchanged flirtatious messages with him in a gay chat room.
The victim was robbed, beaten and then chased onto the Belt Parkway, where he was struck by a hit-and-run vehicle. He died days later.
Three Brooklyn men have been arrested and face hate-crime charges.
"One of the things that is particularly disturbing is that it just seems so calculated the way they went about doing this," said Clarence Patton, executive director of the New York City Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project.
He said that the use of the Internet as a tool for anti-gay violence was so new that his organization barely had a grip on the number of attacks but that he knew they were up.
"I do know that it's something that we see happening with more frequency in recent years, clearly as the Internet has become a vehicle for people to meet in a lot of different settings," Patton told The Post.
"Just in the last year, there were a number of Internet-setup cases on Long Island."
Police have said this particular M.O. - using the Internet to gay bash - seems new to them.
"I don't know if [the] Hate Crimes [Unit] has had a case quite like this one," said Officer Thomas Vierni, the lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender liaison for the NYPD. "If something like this has happened before, we'd like to know about it."
from The New York Post