NYC Council Offers Free Self-Defense Training For LGBT Community

Via press release:

Following the brutal killing of a transgender woman in Harlem last week, Speaker Christine C. Quinn, the City Council LGBT Caucus, Council Member Robert Jackson and Council Member Inez Dickens today announced they will sponsor a free, community-wide self-defense class in Manhattan. “New Yorkers must trust that they can walk down the street without fear of being attacked because of who they are, or who they love,” said Speaker Christine C. Quinn. “As we mourn the tragic death of Islan Nettles, we must be vigilant and ensure that all New Yorkers remain safe. Our free self-defense classes will teach violence prevention strategies to New Yorkers and will provide the community with the tools they need to stay safe.”

Anti-Violence Project Reacts To Anti-Gay Incident On New York City Subway

From their Facebook page:

The New York City Anti-Violence Project (AVP) is deeply disturbed by video footage that was shot and posted online by a concerned witness, who has been in touch with AVP about this incident, and who documented a number of incidents of hate violence on a Queens-bound F train on Sunday, June 30th at around 11:45 pm. AVP is reaching out to the NYPD about this incident, and is contacting community partner Make the Road New York, and New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, the Queens District Attorney’s Office, and Council Member Ruben Wills in Queens.

Video of the incident and my report is here.

NEW YORK CITY: Anti-Violence Project Calls Press Conference On Alleged Anti-Gay Violence By NYPD

Via press release:

The New York City Anti-Violence Project (AVP) will hold a Press Conference on Tuesday, June 11th at 2 pm in response to a bias-motivated assault of Josh Williams, Ben Collins, and Antonio Maenza, three openly gay men in Bed-Stuy Brooklyn on Sunday, June 3rd by New York Police Department (NYPD) officers. The survivors reported that they were walking past the 79th Precinct when an NYPD officer accused one of the men of public urination and attacked him, throwing him against a police car. The officer was joined by other officers who also attacked the man, throwing him to the ground and pepper spraying him while he was in handcuffs. The survivor was handcuffed tightly, causing lacerations. The survivor’s injuries were treated at a hospital, where he was again restrained with wrist and ankle cuffs. The group of officers also arrested the other two survivors.

The Anti-Violence Project has posted the below video apparently taken by one of the arrested men. The clip may not be appropriate for work as it contains obscene language.

RELATED: The press release includes this footnote.

Police Violence is a pervasive problem facing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people in New York City. AVP contributed local data to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs report Hate Violence Against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and HIV-Affected Communities in the United States in 2012 which was released one week ago on June 4th, 2013. In the local findings, AVP found that in 2012, nearly 40% of survivors interacting with the police in New York City reported police misconduct. Reports of police misconduct increased significantly from 8 in 2011 to 78 in 2012. The report also found that survivor reports of hostile attitudes from police doubled in 2012, with 43 reports, up from 21 in 2011. Tomorrow’s Press Conference will highlight these findings and the issue of police violence affecting our LGBTQ communities.

UPDATE: The Village Voice has published a lengthy recounting of the incident. An excerpt:

Williams' ordeal began as the three men walked past the 79th Precinct stationhouse at 263 Tompkins Ave. Williams told his roommates he needed to take a piss, but they told him to wait as they were almost home. An officer standing in the precinct parking lot shouted at them, asking if he had just urinated on the building. Williams said, "no."

"The officer shouted, 'Did you really just piss on the precinct?'" Collins says. "Josh says no. The officer didn't go over and check whether the building had actually been peed on."

The officer called them over. Williams and Collins complied, and the officer asked for their ID cards. Collins asked whether they were being detained. "He rolled his eyes and sort of snapped, twisting an arm behind my back and slamming me against a car," Williams says. "I was able to ask him what was going on, and he slammed me against the car and pepper sprayed me. I was blinded and disoriented."

Collins: "He put his hand on Josh's neck and pushed his face into the hood of the car twice and pepper sprayed him. Josh never tried to resist or run away."

Williams says he remembers then being tossed against a fence and then a number of officers putting their hands on him. "I get slammed to the ground and cuffed and then pepper sprayed again. I remember yelling, 'why are you so angry?' From there I don't remember much."

NEW YORK CITY: West Village Streets Closed For Massive Anti-Hate Crimes Rally"Say His Name: MARK CARSON!"

TOMOROW: NYC Anti-Hate Crime Rally

There have now been four anti-gay attacks in Manhattan just this month. Tomorrow Queer Rising and the NYC Anti-Violence Project will stage a rally in midtown. From the Facebook page:

JOIN THE RALLY: On Thursday May 16, beginning at 7:00pm, Queer Rising and members of the public will rally outside Madison Square Garden (specifically the SW-corner of 7th Avenue and W.33rd Street), demanding attention be paid to the protection of all New Yorkers on MSG vicinity during games, and to denounce any violence against the LGBTQ community. At 8:15pm, a short-list of participating community leaders with speak.

JOIN THE MARCH: After the Rally, we will march through Chelsea, going south along 8th Avenue, ending at Horatio Street/Jackson Square Park.

WHAT TO BRING: Posters declaring your position on anti-violence, safety on the streets, or the Knicks and MSG's responsibility to denounce anti-gay violence.

The latest attack came in the West Village.

A gay man was allegedly attacked outside of a popular New York nightspot in what appears to be a spate of citywide assaults. ABC 7 reports that the victim, who was not identified, was coming out of Pieces, a gay bar in Manhattan's West Village, when he was attacked by two men who were yelling gay slurs. He was not seriously hurt.

The NYC Anti-Violence Project has recapped all four attacks. Beginning next week and through Pride weekend, the group will conduct Friday Safety Nights training sessions in the affected neighborhoods.

Explaining The NYC Anti-Violence Project

Quote Of The Day - Sharon Stapel

"I’m not going to suggest all LGBT folks are non-violent because that would be silly. However, if you look at the organized movement toward LGBT equality, there are no mainstream or even left of mainstream organizations who advocate that the murder of people who are opposed to LGBT equality is a viable solution to meeting our goal.

"Yet a quick scan of the internet shows that there are calls for LGBT people to be 'penned up,' urges the abduction of the children of LGBT people, calls for the government to 'kill the gays.' Now the FRC is suggesting that the Southern Poverty Law Center’s labeling of them as a hate group encouraged this shooting. I would suggest that the culture that SPLC is creating is one aimed at denouncing hate and calling out the institutions that perpetrate that hate.

"I would further suggest that SPLC did not urge its constituency to pen anyone up, take their children or ask the government to murder them. Much of the culture that is created from the right, however, is predicated on violence being the solution to “the homosexual” problem and inciting this violence. And we see that violence being carried out every day. Shooting anyone associated with FCR is wrong. And so is creating a culture that would suggest that this violence is ever a solution to our differences." - Sharon Stapel, executive director of the New York City Anti-Violence Project.

October 18th In NYC: The 14th Annual Anti-Violence Project Courage Awards

Hosted once again by Law & Order's BD Wong, this year's Anti-Violence Project Courage Awards honorees are the Paul Rapoport Foundation, Gay City News journalist Duncan Osborne, and Village Voice columnist Steven Thrasher. Get tickets here. AVP executive director Sharon Stapel raves about Thrasher to the Village Voice:

"Your work at the Village Voice, particularly your coverage of proposed state funding cuts for domestic violence, has been exemplary. In recognition of your work as a community activist, advocate and journalist, we would like to honor you with a 2010 Courage Award. In accepting this award, you will join the distinguished company of past awardees including: progressive LGBTQ bloggers -- Bill Browning, Joe Jervis, Pam Spaulding and Andy Towle, Tony Kushner, Emil Wilbekin and George C. Wolfe to name but a few."

The NYC Anti-Violence Project is the city's primary civilian organization dedicated to immediate responses to incidents of violence against the LGBT community. Please consider supporting their vital work.

TONIGHT: Anti-Violence Project To Hold Manhattan Gay-Bashing Vigil

The NYC Anti-Violence Project will hold a vigil tonight at the Chelsea location of this weekend's brutal attack against a group of gay men. Facebook event page here.

“We will not allow perpetrators of anti-LGBTQ violence to come into our communities and target us. Today we send a strong message that our communities will not be intimidated by this violence and that we will stand up in the face of it and demand equality and respect. This is a wake-up call for every New Yorkers. We all have a responsibility to end this culture of violence against LGBTQ people, which has become so apparent in recent weeks.” AVP is working with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, the NYPD, the office of New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, and other City Council leaders on both of these incidents.

Meet tonight at the corner of 9th Avenue and W.25th Street at 6pm. Important: "AVP encourages you to report any anti-LGBTQ bias, including hate speech, bullying, harassment, and physical violence, to our 24-hour bilingual (English/Spanish) hotline at 212-714-1141 where you can speak with a trained counselor and seek the support you need."

RELATED: The 2010 Anti-Violence Project Courage Awards take place Monday, October 18th. Get tickets here.

REPORT: Anti-Gay Violent Crimes In 2009

The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs today issued their annual report on the reported violent crimes against LGBT people in 2009. The news isn't great.

Anti-LGBTQ hate violence continues to be a pervasive social problem at the same time as vital resources and support for hate violence survivors are at risk amidst economic crisis. This year, 22 victims of hate murder were reported by NCAVP, the second-highest rate in a decade, reflecting a pattern of severe and persistent violence against LGBTQ communities. Notably, NCAVP saw the highest spike in reported incidents of violence in October 2009, coinciding with the passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. This statistic seems to reflect a correlation between increased visibility and increased vulnerability and targeting. Despite these disturbing trends, financial support and much needed services for hate violence survivors have only declined due to ongoing economic conditions.

Of the 22 reported hate murder victims in 2009, 79% were people of color, and most were transgender women or were feminine-presenting. As evidenced in this report, members of traditionally marginalized communities continue to be disproportionately targeted for severe violence. “These facts are deeply disturbing as these are the same people who are more likely to face discrimination, criminalization or further violence when interacting with criminal legal and social service systems. What we see is that they are less likely to seek and access support from these institutions,” said Maria Carolina Morales, Intervention Director of Community United Against Violence (CUAV) in San Francisco.

The report stresses that since many of the coalition's member groups suffering funding cuts last year, an unknown number of violent crimes probably went unreported and uninvestigated.

RELATED: The New York City Council has declared today a "Day of Solidarity" with the LGBT community in Puerto Rico following the seventh murder of a gay person there in 2010. The City Council denounced the "unacceptable, deafening silence from Puerto Rican authorities in response to the brutal violence and murders" of LGBT people.

Manhattan Mini Storage: Still Made Of Teh Awesome

I've blogged several times about Manhattan Mini Storage's provocative ad campaigns, which tend to support progressive causes ranging from pro-choice to anti-Bush. Now, in an in-yer-face dig at conservative groups (such as the Catholic League who want Gothamites to boycott the company), they have unveiled a new "Save More Than Your Stuff" program in which they donate $25 (in the name of new customers) to one of five charities: Planned Parenthood, The Coalition To Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages, Animal Haven, Citymeals-On-Wheels, and the NYC Gay & Lesbian Anti-Violence Project. This is how you win business, in my world at least.

(Via - Good As You)