Dykes & Dykery

gaywrites: High schooler arrested, expelled for same-sex relationship A teenager in Florida has...

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:40:35 -0500

High schooler arrested, expelled for same-sex relationship

A teenager in Florida has been expelled from school and charged with two felonies simply because her girlfriend’s parents disapprove of their relationship. She now faces two years of house arrest and a year of probation.

Kaitlyn Hunt was a popular student at Sebastian River High School, participating in everything from cheerleading to basketball. Hunt began dating another female student and the latter girl’s parents became enraged, according to Hunt’s parents. Kaitlyn was 17 at the time the relationship began, while her girlfriend was 15. Upon Kaitlyn’s 18th birthday, her girlfriend’s parents sent the police to the Hunt home and the teenager was arrested.

Hunt was charged with two felony counts of lewd and lascivious battery on a child. Then, weeks before her graduation, Hunt was expelled from school.

“[The girlfriend’s parents] are out to destroy my daughter,” Hunt’s mother told the Examiner, “because they feel like she ‘made’ their daughter gay. They see being gay as wrong and they blame my daughter. Of course, I see it 100% differently. I don’t see or label these girls as gay. They are teenagers in high school experimenting with their sexuality — with mutual consent. And even if their daughter is gay, who cares? She is still their daughter.”

Infuriating. So many things wrong with this.

First, this is a case of homophobic parents blackmailing a girl they don’t like in a slimy, roundabout way that serves to mask their bigotry. I can’t believe what a cheap shot they took. Absolutely disgusting.

Second, “I don’t see these girls as gay”? Cool, thanks, Mom. Thank goodness she’s not disowning her daughter, but I don’t totally see this as being supportive either.

Third, there’s a petition circulating to drop or lessen the charges against Kaitlyn. Go sign it. And try not to lose faith in humanity, even though people like this exist.

Lesbian couple to comply with judge’s order enforcing ‘morality clause’

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:07:08 -0500

A lesbian mom plans to comply with a Collin County judge’s order saying her partner must move out under a “morality clause” that was included in a divorce settlement with her ex-husband, according to a statement from her attorneys.

The statement released Monday afternoon also indicates that Carolyn Compton’s ex-husband unsuccessfully sought to have her jailed for violating the morality clause by living with her lesbian partner.

Compton has custody of two children from her marriage to Joshua Compton, and she shares a home with her partner of three years, Page Price.

The morality clause says Compton cannot have anyone in her home between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. if it is “an intimate dating relationship” but they are not married. Under Texas law, Compton cannot marry Price.

Joshua Compton reportedly went to court to enforce the morality clause after hiring a private investigator to spy on his ex-wife.

Republican Collin County Judge John Roach Jr. issued an order May 7 giving Price 30 days to move out. Roach reportedly rejected Joshua Compton’s attempt to have his ex-wife held in contempt, fined and jailed for each of the 181 alleged violations of the morality clause. Nevertheless, the judge’s order has prompted an outcry against him since Dallas Voice broke the story on Friday.

Attorneys for Compton and Price issued a statement Monday saying the couple plans to comply with the order even though it is an unconstitutional violation of their right to privacy under case law including Lawrence v. Texas. The attorneys also requested that unlike Roach, the press respect the couple’s privacy since the case involves children.

Read the statement at the link.

gaymakeouts: From Vice Versa Magazine, published by Lisa...

Wed, 15 May 2013 21:06:32 -0500

gaymakeouts:

From Vice Versa Magazine, published by Lisa Ben.

WINDOW SHOPPING

I saw you, stroling down the street together.

“Two girls out shopping,” smug Convention said.

Convention is at times so unobserving,

Convention overlooked the carefree tred

Of steps aimed toward pursuit of happiness

Rather than mundane errands; did not spy

The intertwining of slim, gentle fingers,

The furtive glances, half bold, yet half shy.

Your touseled, unbound tresses intermingled

As you both bent close, apparently to stare

At dresses in the windows. (Those same windows

Reflected two ecstatic faces there!)

No, Convention did not see, she would have frowned.

But I saw, and my heart was deeply moved

As I recalled my days of gay romancing.

I smiled and wished you well, for I approved.

"The love expressed between women is particular and powerful, because we have had to love in order to..."

Sun, 12 May 2013 12:26:36 -0500

“The love expressed between women is particular and powerful, because we have had to love in order to live; love has been our survival.”

- Audre Lorde (via reclaimingthelesbiantag)

Delaware Passes Marriage Equality, Lesbian Senator Comes Out in the Process!

Tue, 07 May 2013 23:23:29 -0500

In the process of making Delaware the 11th state, plus the District of Columbia, with legal marriage equality, Sen. Karen Peterson came out as a lesbian, telling her colleagues, “If my happiness somehow demeans or diminishes your marriage, you need to work on your marriage.”

Peterson mentioned her partner of 24 years, Vicki. They entered a civil union, which were officially established in January 2012.

Read the whole article for particulars about the passage of this bill.

Remembering LA’s Earliest Lesbian Bars The Palms may be the...

Mon, 06 May 2013 22:29:00 -0500

Remembering LA’s Earliest Lesbian Bars

The Palms may be the only lesbian bar in West Hollywood and the oldest continually operating lesbian bar in the Los Angeles area but it is far from the first lesbian bar in the area.

The June Mazer Lesbian Archives, located at 626 Robertson Blvd., adjacent to West Hollywood Park, maintains an extensive collection of lesbian-related information from across the nation. WEHOville consulted with the archive to learn more about some of the early lesbian bars in the area.

Angela Brinskele, the archive’s communication director, said that early records of lesbian bars are sketchy. Before the Stonewall riots, which are credited as the single most important moment leading to the gay liberation movement, police used to routinely raid gay and lesbian bars. As a result, people didn’t keep things that might associate them with those bars. To buy some protection for the bar and its patrons, lesbian bar owners often paid off police officers, either with cash or sex or both.

In 1991, the archive videotaped a half-dozen women reminiscing about the early lesbian bars. The archive hopes to hold another videotaping session this summer. People interested in reminiscing about lesbian bars from the 1950s to the 1990s should contact the Mazer.

The Mazer is still learning a lot about the bars of the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Recently, the archive received a donation of several photographs dated August 1955, taken at a bar called the Green Door on Lankershim Boulevard in North Hollywood. The donation is notable, Brinskele said, because LGBT historians had never heard of the Green Door. Furthermore, the photos show women freely posing, which was rare in a time of police harassment.

Below is a brief history of some of the earliest lesbian bars in the Los Angeles area, gathered from that taping session, Lillian Faderman’s book “Gay L.A.: A History of Sexual Outlaws, Power Politics and Lipstick Lesbians”and other resources at the Mazer.

Profiles of the bars are at the link.

And in case you missed it, the Palms announced its closing will take place June 9th, just after Pride. It will be demolished and combined with the adjacent lot to build a 4-story building with residential and retail space.

Griner Is Part of Mission to Help All Live in Truth

Mon, 06 May 2013 11:41:17 -0500

by Brittney Griner for the New York Times

When the N.B.A. center Jason Collins announced he was gay last week, I was thrilled. Not only was I extremely happy for him, I thought that maybe, just maybe, his courage and the wave of positive reaction meant that we were on the verge of an era when people accept and celebrate one another’s differences. I think that’s what makes life beautiful: everyone is different and we can all learn from one another.

It takes a lot of courage to come out.

I first came out to my mom in the ninth grade. Even though the story is kind of boring (comparatively), I remember it as if it were yesterday. I was leaning against a wall in our house at the time, not doing anything in particular. For whatever reason, at that moment I let my mom know I was gay. It wasn’t planned. It just popped out. She gave me a hug, smiled and told me she loved me, and I went back upstairs to my room. Simple as that.

I knew then that it didn’t matter what my sexuality was; my mom and family would always love me for who I am. For me, the simplicity behind coming out was both powerful and beautiful. No drama, just acceptance and love.

That’s why I never felt the need to publicly announce I was “out.” People have asked me if I’m at all bothered that my “announcement” after the W.N.B.A. draft last month didn’t receive as much attention as Jason’s. Frankly, it didn’t matter at all to me. I simply answered a question honestly and am just happy to tell my truth and to be in a position to encourage others to do the same. It’s all about living an honest life and being comfortable in your own skin. It strengthens me to know that Jason and I (along with so many other out pioneers and allies) are united in a mission to inspire others who may be struggling. I want everyone to feel at peace and O.K. with being who he or she is.

Just as basketball doesn’t define who I am, neither does being gay.

But that doesn’t mean life was easy growing up. I was bullied in every way imaginable, but the worst was the verbal abuse. (I was always a strong, tough and tall girl, so nobody wanted to mess with me from a physical standpoint.) It hit rock bottom when I was in seventh grade. I was in a new school with people I didn’t know, and the teasing about my height, appearance and sexuality went on nonstop, every day.

People called me a dude and said there was no way I could be a woman. Some even wanted me to prove it to them. During high school and college, when we traveled for games, people would shout the same things while also using racial epithets and terrible homophobic slurs.

(That’s nothing compared with the horrendous things people call me online today — if you don’t believe me, look at the comments about me on Twitter and Instagram.)

No one deserves to go through that type of abuse. When I was young, I put on a face as if it didn’t hurt, but it’s painful to be called hateful names and made fun of because people thought my feet were huge or that I looked like a guy. It was hard to hear antigay slurs under their breath whenever I walked by them. It always confused me; I never thought that to be beautiful, you had to look any certain way at all. In my opinion, you’re beautiful because you are you.

Still, some people have it worse. I think about what Matthew Shepard had to face when he was tortured and chained to a fence in 1998 — I am thankful that Jason, as a veteran professional athlete, took the opportunity to remind people so that it never happens again. I think about that often, but I also think about the kids in middle school and high school today who daily are made to feel so bad about themselves that they contemplate not wanting to live anymore. That really hurts my heart because I’ve been there.

I’ve had moments when I questioned my place in the world. At times, especially in seventh grade, life was lonely and I’d often feel sad. I never wanted to deny who I was, but dealing with the sadness and the anger that came from people constantly making fun of me wore me down at times. I relied heavily on my mom, family and friends to lift my spirits and help me through it — and still do.

It’s taken me a long time to figure out exactly where I fit. During that journey, I realized that everyone has a unique place in this world. I also discovered that the more open I was with my family and friends, the more I embraced others, and the more committed I became to doing the things I love, like basketball, skating and, of course, eating bacon (the greatest food of all time), the more love and confidence I received in return.

I just had to hang in there and be myself.

Jason Collins’s announcement, with the support he has received, has already made me more optimistic than ever that people are ready. More important, that the pace of change is picking up. That’s why I have become involved in the It Gets Better project, whose mission is to inspire hope for young people facing harassment and bullying. Because, people, it’s time for bullying to end. Nobody should have to hear the types of things I did or to feel the way I have.

The good news is that I do see change coming. It might be slow, but there are so many positive signs. After being drafted by the Phoenix Mercury and with more media acknowledging my sexuality, I’ve received more hugs, tweets, thank-yous and well-wishes in regard to being “out” than ever.

Countless people have come up to me and thanked me for being proud of who I am.

It’s my job now to, I hope, be a light who inspires others.

Iowa Supreme Court: Married lesbians have constitutional right for both to be on baby’s birth certificate

Sat, 04 May 2013 14:45:59 -0500

Married same-sex couples have the same rights as married heterosexuals to have both parents listed on the birth certificates of their newborn children, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled this morning.

Justices ruled 6-0 to require that the Iowa Department of Public Health begin listing both married parents on a newborn child’s birth certificate, despite state concerns that biological-based parenting rights would be cast aside if a Des Moines lesbian was allowed to establish paternity of her child.

The opinion, authored by Justice David Wiggins, brushes aside state government arguments that Iowa’s interest in “the accuracy of birth certificates, the efficiency and effectiveness of government administration, and the determination of paternity” require that the state hue to biological definitions in recording a child’s parentage.

Iowa currently keeps no records of biological parentage in cases where heterosexual couples use anonymous sperm donors, the court reasons. And state records would not be more accurate by requiring, as Iowa health officials until now have insisted, that nonbirthing mothers go through an adoption process.

“It is important for our laws to recognize that married lesbian couples who have children enjoy the same benefits and burdens as married opposite-sex couples who have children,” the opinion says. “By naming the nonbirthing spouse on the birth certificate of a married lesbian couple’s child, the child is ensured support from that parent and the parent establishes fundamental legal rights at the moment of birth. Therefore, the only explanation for not listing the nonbirthing lesbian spouse on the birth certificate is stereotype or prejudice.

“The exclusion of the nonbirthing spouse on the birth certificate of a child born to a married lesbian couple is not substantially related to the objective of establishing parentage.”

Today’s ruling stems from a lawsuit brought by Melissa and Heather Gartner after the state refused in 2009 to list both of their names on the birth certificate of their daughter, Mackenzie. The baby had been carried by Heather and conceived via an anonymous sperm donor.

Polk County District Judge Eliza Ovrom ruled in the couple’s favor in January 2012, finding that the state had failed to properly follow the 2009 court case that legalized same-sex marriage in Iowa.

Iowa law long has held that if a woman is married, the husband must be legally deemed the father unless there’s a court order that says otherwise.

Read more

‘Shower of Stoles’ exhibit supports LGBT [people] of...

Fri, 03 May 2013 22:42:27 -0500

‘Shower of Stoles’ exhibit supports LGBT [people] of faith

Seven members of First Congregational worked meticulously, well into the afternoon Friday as they hung 100 intricate, ministerial stoles. Their work was for more than just an art project, though.

Shower of Stoles is a traveling exhibit of more than 1,000 religious garments donated by LGBT individuals who serve or have served in ministry but have been defrocked by the church for their sexual orientations. Martha Juillerat started the project when she stepped down from the Presbyterian Church in 1995 and came out, according to the project’s website, www.welcomingresources.org. She asked for other LGBT [people] to send in their stoles to display and received 80 within the first day. The next spring, she had 200, so the first display was held in 1996 in Albuquerque, N.M.

Over the years, clearly, the exhibit has grown. Now it is split up into pieces, and First Congregational is hosting the exhibit for the first time from May 3 to May 15. Member Vickie Spyhalski is one of the seven who helped hang the stoles, which took several hours.

“The purpose is really to show the role that LGBT people play in the church and their role in the ministry,” Spyhalski said.

First Congregational has 100 of the stoles on display. Many of them are coupled with the stories of the people who wore them and the struggles they faced by coming out. Those stories, Spyhalski said, are powerful.

“It’s very moving when you get to see them,” Spyhalski said. “I actually hung a stole of a man who died of AIDS who was a minister. When you hang a stole and you realize he’s no longer with us, really it is a very sacred thing.”

The Lesbian Activists Who Set the Stage for Gay-Rights Progress...

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 21:56:37 -0500

The Lesbian Activists Who Set the Stage for Gay-Rights Progress in Philly

But in the 1970s, Cohen was still working for change from a radical space outside the system. Specifically, in 1975, LGBT activists in Philadelphia were trying to get City Council Bill 1275 passed. The bill would have added “sexual orientation” to the Human Rights Code, which in turn would have outlawed discriminating against LGBT people for employment and housing.

Despite activists’ efforts, it became clear that Bill 1275 was going to be left to die in committee. In response, the Gay Activist Alliance organized a protest. “A group of us who were friends, young lesbian feminists in our early 20s, heard there was going to be this silent vigil at City Council the next day to mourn the death of Bill 1275,” Cohen recalls. “We decided, no—we were going to be silent no longer as a community.”

This loose collective of feminist lesbian direct-action activists called themselves the Dyketactics, named after an underground film by Barbara Hammerstein. They declared their goal was to “electrify the imaginations of the gay and women’s communities.” Preparing to protest the suppression of Bill 1275, they made up a banner the night before the City Council meeting, reading: “You will never have the comfort of our silence again.”

The Dyketactics went to bed ready to make a statement; they didn’t know they would make history. As Dyketactics protestor and poet Barbara Ruth would later recall in an essay published in Philly activist Tommi Avicolli Mecca’s 2009 anthology Smash the Church, Smash the State: “We never discussed [the possibility of] being met with violence.”

The next morning, Dyketactics arrived in City Hall, where Council members were waiting, as were the Council’s sergeant-at-arms and the Civil Disobedience Unit—a police unit established in the 1960s to deal with protesters at a time when the city averaged more than one a day. Riot police, basically.

According to Ruth’s account, local public-school fourth-graders, eighth-graders and high school seniors had been bused in on a field trip that day to watch Philadelphia government in action. They got more than they bargained for.

During the opening prayer, the Dyketactics raised clenched fists into the air. When the bill was killed, some Dyketactics defiantly tongue-kissed. Others chanted: “Free 1275!”

“Things blew up quickly,” writes Ruth. “The [Civil Disobedience] squad … pushed past the gay men to attack the dykes.”

Kazakhstan: Lesbian Wedding Raises Eyebrows The industrial city...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 22:26:31 -0500

Kazakhstan: Lesbian Wedding Raises Eyebrows

The industrial city of Karaganda in northeastern Kazakhstan has seen an event utterly out of the ordinary for the former Soviet Union: a wedding between two women.

The couple organized the symbolic wedding to celebrate their union, the Vox Populi website reportsin a photo story showing the elaborate celebration, which included all the usual trappings: from the white limousine that the bride and groom ride in during more traditional celebrations to the flutes of champagne to toast the happy couple.

The marriage has no legal force in Kazakhstan, where same-sex weddings are not recognized by law – but the two women, identified only as Karolina and Kristina, decided to tie the knot symbolically. As Vox Populi put it, “love has no law.”

The pictures showed the elegant couple – one wearing a white wedding dress and the other a white suit – popping champagne corks and following the usual tradition of stopping off at popular sites around the city to have a glass of champagne with wedding guests.

When the wedding party dropped into a shopping mall to buy some food, eyebrows were raised, said Vox Populi. It described onlookers’ mood as “spiteful,” with “hostile looks from the shoppers, whispering into walkie-talkies by the security guards, surprised looks from the salespeople.”

The LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community tends not to be very visible in Kazakhstan, where anecdotal evidence suggests that members face widespread discrimination.

buzzfeedlgbt: Female Pro Athletes Have Been Out for...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:43:10 -0500

buzzfeedlgbt:

Female Pro Athletes Have Been Out for Decades

And of course, Brittney Griner just recently came out.

Congratulations to Jason Collins for being the first male athlete to come out and stand with his sisters, though.

WATCH: OH Students Protest Firing Of Lesbian Teacher Showing...

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 21:24:44 -0500

WATCH: OH Students Protest Firing Of Lesbian Teacher

Showing their support for fired lesbian teacher Carla Hale, about a dozen Roman Catholic high-school students gathered outside the offices of the Diocese of Columbus on Friday holding signs to protest her dismissal.

Hale, a popular teacher at Bishop Watterson High School, was fired by the Catholic Diocese of Columbus in March after her sexual orientation was revealed in an obituary for her mother.

“Miss Hale was a great teacher,” said senior Zac Simmons. “She’d always be there for us and I just want to be there for her.”

It’s not just students who are outraged over the firing of Hale. Columbus mayor Michael Coleman, tweeted his support: “I stand with Carla Hale. No one in Columbus or in the United States should be denied employment because of their choice of who to love.”

Employment Non-Discrimination Act Reintroduced In Senate

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 22:06:40 -0500

Hoping to get a lift from the changing tides on gay marriage, a bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation Thursday that would ban job discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA, has been introduced in Congress regularly since the mid-1990s without ever being passed. But given the public discussion on gay rights over the past year, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), a co-sponsor, told HuffPost he thinks the bill has about as good a shot as ever in the Senate.

“There’s a growing recognition that discrimination is wrong” against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, Merkley said Thursday. “The same concept that’s driving the marriage debate will help drive success on employment discrimination.”

Gay marriage now has support from all but three Democratic senators — Sens. Mary Landrieu (La.), Mark Pryor (Ark.) and Joe Manchin (W.Va.) — as well as Republican Sens. Mark Kirk (Ill.) and Rob Portman (Ohio).

ENDA would bar companies from factoring sexual orientation or gender identity into employment decisions. Employers are already prohibited by federal law from discriminating over race, religion, age, gender or disability. The proposal exempts businesses with fewer than 15 employees as well as religious organizations.

For the ENDA bill, Merkley’s co-sponsors include Democratic Sens. Tom Harkin (Iowa) and Tammy Baldwin (Wis.), as well as Kirk and fellow Republican Susan Collins (Maine). A companion bill has been introduced in the House by Reps. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.).

Read more

New Health Services Standards Ensure Respect For LGBT Patients

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 22:49:28 -0500

New Health Services Standards Ensure Respect For LGBT Patients:

Today the Office of Minority Health at the Department of Health and Human Services released the new National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS). The new CLAS Standards, which have been under development for several years, are a groundbreaking response to increasing awareness of the factors that frequently prevent diverse populations such as the LGBT community from getting the health care that they need.

The Office of Minority Health established the original CLAS Standards in 2001 as a framework for advancing health equity, improving care quality, and eliminating health care disparities. The new standards go beyond this original framework by creating a blueprint for health care providers to implement culturally and linguistically appropriate services in order to help all patients achieve better health and health care.

Cultural competency is a major concern for LGBT people in health care settings across the U.S. Earlier this year in Missouri, for example, Roger Gorley was arrested and forcibly removed from his husband’s bedside when the hospital refused to recognize them as a family. And in a 2010 incident that is unfortunately not unique for transgender people, Erin Vaught was ridiculed as “it” and refused treatment for a lung condition at a hospital in Indiana after hospital personnel learned she was a transgender woman.

Following the example of initiatives such as the LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination requirements from The Joint Commission, the new CLAS standards fully incorporate the concerns of LGBT people into the framework of culturally and linguistically appropriate care.

glsen: LGBTQ YOUTH - Let the world know what’s really going on...

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 16:52:41 -0500

glsen:

LGBTQ YOUTH - Let the world know what’s really going on in U.S. schools by taking the 2013 National School Climate Survey! www.glsen.org/2013survey

nbcnews: France legalizes gay marriage despite angry...

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:37:02 -0500

nbcnews:

France legalizes gay marriage despite angry protests

(Photo: AFP - Getty Images)

France became the 14th country in the world to allow same-sex couples to wed Tuesday, when its parliament approved a law that has sparked often violent street protests and a rise in homophobic attacks.

Read the complete story.

Photo

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 13:12:54 -0500

From 1983 to grandparenthood, lesbian group’s shared...

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 21:54:45 -0500

From 1983 to grandparenthood, lesbian group’s shared history

It all began in 1983 in the basement of a church.

They were a dozen or so lesbians in committed relationships who wanted to be good mothers. Some already had children, and some were still figuring out how to make it happen.

One woman even handed out mimeographed instructions on how to artificially inseminate with a syringe and sperm from a donor.

During a recent weekend, 10 of those women filled the living room of a home in Seattle’s Greenwood neighborhood.

Now old friends, laughter filled the room as they share the news that two of them, Kathy Silverman and Jan Veling, recently became grandmothers.

“We’re very excited. We have a granddaughter, who is 8 months now,” said Silverman. “And she’s the cutest thing ever.”

Their joy is that much more intense, because many thought they’d never get to this point. They’d grown up at a time when it seemed like an openly-gay lifestyle couldn’t include children.

“Because we had no other way to do it. We had to help one another and support one another so that we could have children,” said Sunny Rivera.

But then they found each other.

Read the full story at the link for more from these women and their children.

Teenage girl injured in attack by teen boys at New Brighton bus stop

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 21:33:56 -0500

Teenage girl injured in attack by teen boys at New Brighton bus stop:

Calgary police are treating a late night attack on a teenager as a possible hate crime.

The attack happened Thursday evening in the southeast community of New Brighton.

“I have a black eye, a split lip, the inside of my cheek is cut, a cut on my forehead, and my eye is so swollen I can barely open,” says the victim.

CTV Calgary has agreed to withhold the identity of the victim at the request of her family, who are concerned about retribution.

The 17-year-old lesbian was jumped late Thursday night, shortly after getting off a transit bus near her home.

The victim says a group of four teenagers attacked her, punching and kicking her several times, while using homophobic slurs.

She says one of the attackers recorded the beating on his phone.

“(I’m) pretty shaken up, it’s hard not to be scared,” says the victim. “This is my neighborhood and I’ve always felt safe in it and now I don’t.”

“I’ve had people throw things at me and play ‘pick on the lesbian on the bus’, and put gum in my hair but nobody has physically assaulted me until now.”