Turning a blind eye to a discrimination
ON THE evening of July 7, a reverend who runs a homeless shelter for gay and transgender teens in Astoria, Queens, New York, was brutally assaulted by four homophobic teenage kids.
Father Louis Braxton stopped four kids from harassing and hitting a shelter resident with a garbage can, but the attackers returned moments later with a "paint bucket, a miter box, steel brackets and a belt," according to Father Braxton. Father Braxton was then beaten up. The four teenagers, aged 15 to 17, were later apprehended by the New York Transit police and released without bail a day later.
Father Braxton attributes the rise in hate crimes in New York City, a 21 percent increase in 2007, to the worsening economic situation, to people's disenfranchisement and to their poor awareness about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) and other civil rights. He pointed the finger at the media, saying that their lack of political correctness contributes to an atmosphere where it's okay to ridicule the LGBT community on the airwaves.
In New York City public institutions, the situation is appalling: Nearly 100 percent of LGBT teens drop out of high school and almost no provision is made for them in the prison system said Father Braxton. In 2004, the city council passed the "Dignity for All Schools Act" (DASA)--over Mayor Bloomberg's veto –to address harassment and bullying at school. The act was to provide money for the training of staff and school safety officers to recognize and handle harassment cases. "Students should never have to fear that they will be subjected to abuse or harassment at school due to their ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other reason," said council member Eva Moskowitz.
However, the legislation remains a piece of paper as city officials favor giving tax breaks to big business and real estate interests rather than funding DASA.
If paying only lip service to people's civil rights wasn't outrageous enough, the city continues to criminalize homeless LGBT teens and incarcerate them. You have to wonder if Father Braxton's attackers were even aware that they were committing an extraordinarily wrong crime, especially since they were released without bail a day later.
In a deteriorating economic situation the ruling class (corporate media, big business and conservative politicians) will blame sections of the working class (immigrants, the LGBT community, ethnic minorities, etc.) for the problems workers are facing. But the real section of society that makes the life of working people more and more miserable is not immigrants, or LGBT people, or Blacks and Latinos, but the rich and powerful. Those who run society for their own profit will continue to do so at the expense of our lives.
The attitude of city officials toward LGBT people shows that gay rights, including the right to be safe anywhere, cannot be secured without a fight. That is why it is urgent that we organize and demand an end to gay bashing and unity across the working class. We should point out the real enemies: Corporate America and its politicians.
François Laforge, New York City
