I recall when I used to accept this sort of thing as a part of living. I wasn’t particularly effeminate, either, not that that would be a difference. But my inner rage at past feelings of helplessness in this same situation arose.
Is there a CUAV (Community United Against Violence) chapter in your province? I live in SF and have been living here since 1989, partly from experiences such as yours, and suddenly realized that I hadn’t had a threat of violence against me in a while, so I’ve forgotten what I’d do. Also, authorities here assist more, and there seem to be more resources. Although they aren’t always ideally helpful, so it completely a gay haven. I recall that CUAV does reporting of hate crimes and harassment, and perhaps can assist you. I don’t have a link at my fingertips, but I’ll post one if I find out.
Please continue to post and let us know how things turn out. I’m sorry that you have to be the one to pave the way for the rest of us, but as you’ve read, you have our empathy. Those who follow will appreciate your bearing up under the bureaucracy.
matt- the gay line didn’t have that hate crimes unit info themselves? Sheesh!
Btw, “Homoslavia” was part of a Dennis Miller joke making fun of the Axl Rose song about “immigrants & faggots they do what they please; they come to our shores & spread their disease.”
DM- “Gee, I missed that in history class- the great Homosexual immigration as they fled their homeland of Homoslavia.”
Call your local police station again. Make an official complaint about the police officer who took your call. Even if “Kill the faggot” is not an out and out threat (although I have my reservations on that) it is verbal harrassment and abuse, which, unlike the police officers, you are not paid to deal with. It is also, in this country at least, a breach of the peace. The police officer taking your call was unhelpful, unsupportive, rude, and not doing her job. If she wasn’t sure how to proceed with your call, she should’ve offered to put you on hold and tried to find someone who did know.
Start lifting weights, learn muay thai, and carry some mace. Next time a similar scenario occurs (doubtful if you are built and tough looking), challenge them to start shit up, then kick their asses.
But I must disagree with Potter and kinda side with rude officer.
Granted, ‘kill the faggot’ is not a protest. It is a taunt, and definately a threat. But what was this officer supposed to do? File a report? Start an investigation?
Maybe if you had called the police from a pay phone near where it happened they could have sent a patrol car to roust these punks. But unless those ‘kids’ were still there rousting citizens on the street, (and that is very unlikely given the amount of time passed) even that would be waste of time and resources.
Yes, the officer should have been more polite. And she had her head up her ass. But there was nothing, really, that she could have accomplished anyway.
Unfortunately, being the nice, unassuming Canadian boy I am, I was so astonished at what she had to say that I forgot to get her name. So I don’t know if a complaint would come to anything. But I will definitely bring it up when I talk to the hate crimes unit tomorrow.
And spooje, I see your point, but the idea was that there would be some kind of report. I wasn’t asking her to start looking for anyone, just to take down my complaint so it would be recorded in the statistics, which the officer at the other post said they would be able to do.
And really, I wouldn’t have minded even if she couldn’t do anything, if she had just said that without adding the “saying ‘kill the faggot’ isn’t really a threat and we have it as bad as you do” routine, as you correctly point out was wrong of her.
A waste of time? I wasn’t asking her to move the world, just to make a notation so that whoever it is who compiles statistics on these matters won’t be able to say that everything is just fine just because nobody who got called a faggot managed to say something about it. I don’t think that’s a waste of time.
Matt,
sorry about this happening to you. my ex used to get stones thrown at him, and verbal harrasment, but he never wanted to do anythign about it. ironically, I never seemed to have a problem with the local kids. guess it was my build or something compared ot his. but it still sucked. DC now has a liason unit for GLBT, and the officers are great. one of them usually hangs out at our rugby practices cuz they are not in the best part of town, and we have had problems in the past. hope it all works out for you, and things get better on this point up there to the north. but at least you can get married, it’ll be a long time before that can happen for us.
Matt, I’m so sorry this happened to you. I’m also sorry I wasn’t on that train. You see, I have this quaint habit of standing up to louts and bullies, and louts like these have a tendency to underestimate me since I’m female and over 20. :evil grin:
It’s stuff like this which is why I can’t just walk away from the issue of homosexuality, despite being straight. It’s not right!
scott evil is correct - it sounds like a threat to me.
And therefore, the police should record it.
And the people who uttered it should get the crap kicked out of them, but at least official notice should be taken of one group of citizens threatening another.
Not sure what else can be done about this specific incident besides expressing a wish that it never happen again, and sympathy that you had to go thru it.
The very least the police should do is record the incident. And it would make sense for them to investigate in more detail - harassment of this type can escalate, we know that all too well, and if the police know who’s doing the harassing, and/or where they’re doing it, they will be in a better place to put a stop to it. Preferably before someone gets physically hurt.
The lack of response form the police is appallling (although no at all surprising, sadly). I’m glad that they only used words and didn’t follow through with fists. Pursue this until you get a positive response and stay safe.
I propose a roving task force of homosexuals, dressed in the style of Gatsby or Wooster with Art Deco acccessories, trained to eliminate these offensive youths by dancing a lethal version of the Charleston.
The name of this organisation would be The 1920s Style Death Gays.
Seriously though, Matt - I really hate that the world is like this toward you.
