Openly gay singer Geo Vaughn was physically assaulted on 22nd Street
and Broadway. An anti-violence rally for him takes place 3–6 p.m.,
Sat., Sept. 13, at Foley Square. Photo: George Caceres.
Thousands united Nov. 12 in front of a Mormon temple in Midtown and marched to Columbus Circle to protest Proposition Hate, er…Proposition 8.
A new generation of activists unites via the Internet. Log on and Join the Impact.
A multimedia SAGE campaign makes LGBT elders more visible—even on New York’s subways and buses.
How will his departure affect LGBT issues in Albany?
Industry leaders powwow to raise questions about the persecution of clubland.
Anti-gay hate crimes are on the rise across the U.S.—homophobic incidents have even surfaced at a local production of play “Judy and Me.”
Spurred by a gay marriage ban in California, simultaneous protests were
held Nov. 14 across the nation. In Manhattan, 4,000 rallied at City Hall.
Next up: A Dec. 10 event called A Day Without a Gay.
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By Joelle L. Quartini
Friday, September 05, 2008
When Geo Vaughn asked a group of men on the corner of 22nd Street and Broadway for directions to a Chelsea gay club called mr. Black, they sent him, instead, to St. Vincent’s Hospital. Vaughn said the men physically assaulted him for being gay, leaving him with a sprained ankle, bruised ribs and head, knee and ear injuries.
Despite the injuries, Vaughn called 9-11 then followed his attackers, eventually pointing out the men for the police and leading to one arrest.
“I would have never in a million years thought that something this horrible would happen there,” said Vaughn, referring to Chelsea, the neighborhood known as a gay hub. “I know many New Yorkers can relate when I say that our city streets hold what many of us believe are a safe haven for gays—a place where we can be ourselves and not ‘stand out.’”
Still, it was within blocks of several thriving gay bars that Vaughn, an openly gay singer, became the victim of a hate crime. At least one man was arrested in the incident. Sedat Cagatay, a 20-year-old white male from Staten Island, was arrested and charged with assault and aggravated harassment as a hate crime, according to the New York City Deputy Commissioner of Public Information.
Hate crime violence is increasing across the country. In May, the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs reported a 24 percent increase in LGBT-related hate crimes in 2007 from 2006. The New York City Gay & Lesbian Anti-Violence Project noted the following hate crimes in June and July:
• June 28, New York City. A gay man was harassed and beaten on subway platform near Christopher Street.
• July 7, Queens. Father Braxton was beaten while protecting a group of LGBT youth living at Carmen’s Place, a shelter for homeless youth.
• July 12, Central New York. A self-described neo-Nazi is arrested for allegedly breaking into the home of a 65-year-old gay man at midnight while he slept. The victim was able to flee his home before it was torched and completely destroyed.
• July 25, upstate New York. A man from out-of-state visiting family was severely beaten by two men who shouted anti-gay slurs while kicking him, breaking 10 bones in his face.
• July 29, Staten Island. A large group of men verbally assaulted then stabbed a man they perceived to be gay.
• Labor Day Weekend, Manhattan. College student Kevin Pravia was strangled in his Chelsea apartment. Although the murder is currently labeled as a “crime of opportunity” and not a hate crime, Pravia was gay. See the Blade’s related story here.
In Vaughn’s case, it was 2 a.m. Sunday morning, August 24 when he asked the six men for directions. He had just come from meeting with another club about promoting his new demo “Black & White.” Vaughn knew he was near mr. Black but unsure of the exact address.
“Hey, do you know where mr. Black is?” he yelled to the group of guys.
“The gay club?” one of them responded with a snicker.
“Oh, so you’re a faggot?” Another of the men yelled.
According to Vaughn, one of the men punched him in the ear. Vaughn fell to the ground, and then a few others jumped on top of him and began kicking and hitting him while yelling “faggot.”
“They seemed enraged and offended somehow that I asked them for directions to a gay club,” Vaughn told the Blade.
When the attackers realized witnesses were starring and on the phone with the police, they started to walk away.
Vaughn followed them, remaining about half a block behind them while on the phone with 9-1-1. When the attackers realized he was behind them, one of them again began to harass and attack Vaughn.
The police arrived a moment later, and Vaughn identified which men had assaulted him.
After an 11-hour investigation, Vaughn was treated at St. Vincent’s Hospital for a sprained ankle, bruised ribs, and head, knee and ear injuries.
“I’m in shock,” Vaughn said. “Not only was I shocked that this happened there, but that I asked the detective in the car ‘This must not happen very often,’ and he said ‘More often than you’d think.”
Vaughn said he’s upset “just knowing that there are people at home right now, disabled right now, because they’ve been the victims of hate crimes.”
Since posting information about the incident on YouTube and Myspace, Vaughn has received nearly 200 e-mails from young people who’ve been beaten up at school, attacked on the streets or victimized some other way because of their sexuality.
Vaughn said he feels that if he had been beaten for his race, ethnicity or gender, the public would have been more concerned. “Because a gay man was beaten, everyone looks the other way.”
Sharon Stapel, executive director of the New York City AVP, explains that victims of hate crimes may be targeted not just for one characteristic, but multiple identities, such as being black and LGBT, which she called the “intersection of identities.”
“Depending on the community [the victims come from], they may have similar problems getting incidents characterized as hate crimes,” Stapel said.
Pride events and increased visibility make summer a high-risk time for LGBT-related hate crimes. Election years also see an increase in violence because trigger issues such as gay rights are forefront in the news.
“When we’re out there publicly on a visible level, we become more of a target,” Stapel said, explaining that situation doesn’t change just because you’re in a gay-friendly neighborhood such as Chelsea.
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