Example A is nasty, but it is not a crime.
Example B is a crime.
There’s a BIG difference. Once is rude, the other’s a criminal offense. Threatening someone is assault.
matt, as an outcast I have lived most of my life being verbally abused and haraunged. I have two words of advice to offer: buck up.
I haven’t suffered just for being an outcast either, I’ve grown up in a town that’s eighty-percent Mexican and for a while the Mexican youths decided that they hated white people.
And while I haven’t dealt with the extreme prejudice of homophobia( for the simple fact that I stay locked in the closet) my stance is the same. If you’re not the agressive or assertive type, just buck up. Hell, get witty and say something scathing in response, but buck the fuck up.
Psychopachik Vampire
:rolleyes:
I’m very, very sorry, but that is the only thing that came to mind. Really. That post sullies this thread.
Poor little whitey being kept down by the wetbacks. Sure.
That certainly sucks.
I have to agree with the officer. You weren’t injured or really threatened as far as i can tell. There isn’t really a law against being a jerk. You don’t know who these kids are. Other than take your statement, I’m not sure what the police COULD do to help.
(and now for some reason, I have Elmer Fudd singing “kill da wabbit! kill da wabbit!” to Flight of the Valkyries in my head.)
And now I have an image of being chased through Chealsea by a squad of burley yet fabulous Village People cops with thick mostaches tracking me with very small dogs.
IANAC (yet) but in this country the police officer should’ve at least taken Matt’s name and phone number and given him a crime report number, as a crime had been reported to her. However insignificant she chose to see the incident, it was a crime under any amount of definitions; verbal harrassment, verbal abuse, breach of the peace, threat of bodily harm, public nuisance (that one covers all sorts, in effect a law against being a jerk). I am annoyed with the police officer’s bad handling of the situation, but I am also annoyed that nothing had been logged. Should the lil thugs decide to make a habit of this sort of thing, the police would need to be able to evidence a trend of their behaviour in order to be able to act effectively. Without anything logged, the police’s hands would be effectively tied until the nasty little sods decided to up their abuse a notch or two. At the very least, the police officer should’ve have expressed concern with Matt’s mental state and offered to contact victim support services on his behalf if necessary, whether or not Matt was about to take her up on this offer. It is basic good practice for the police to do so.
Ok, now you’re just turning me on…
:rolleyes: Cus’ bucking up and turning the other cheek is helpful to oppressed persons everywhere. :rolleyes:
I’m really sorry this happened to you Matt.
You could move to Calgary where I am - most have never even seen an acutal gay person around these parts, let alone the Queen of Homoslovkia 
Take care - follow this through as far as you can.
Not to be a smartass, msmith, but we don’t know what the Quebec laws are on harassment on the basis of orientation, and matt was explicit that the Hotline woman advised him that the police were taking an “initiative” (explanation might be helpful, matt) on antigay attitudes and language.
If nothing else, making a note of it as a non-actionable instance of harassment for their statistics (PDs are required in most places to keep statistics on complaints taken and investigated) might be useful.
::SNORK:: I just about inhaled the bite of chocolate I was eating as I read this. 
Matt, I’m sorry that this BS has happened to you, but I’m glad that you are willing to go through all the hassle of reporting it. I agree with the others who have said that “Kill the faggot!”= death threat, and should not be ignored.
–Kris
Thanks once more, Potter. It’s true: a crime was committed. The crime wasn’t as serious as it might be, and there’s little chance of catching the perps, but it was still a crime against me.
I spoke to the officer in charge of the hate crimes unit, and he told me to come down to the station and file a complaint. That way it will be included in the stats. So that’s what I’m gonna do.
No probs. Just disgruntled on behalf of my pretty baby. Gr.
kiss on his little cactus flower
Just to clarify … I’ve been called a faggot lots of times before.
I got called a fif by an old drunk guy on the side of the road as Hamish and I wafted out of Goth Night at the Fetish Café (“Oooh! What a smart man! I bet he took one look at me and knew I was white, too!”)
I had someone yell at me to get a haircut, you fucking queer, when I was 17. (My hair wasn’t even that long.)
Just this last Pride session, I got called a faggot multiple times and told to get fucked up the ass (“I should be so lucky!”) because I had purple toenails. (A bunch of other gay guys and I in the same metro train drowned it out with an accappella chorus of “I Will Survive.” No, I am not making this up.)
But this is the first time my life was threatened, so it’s the first one I’m taking seriously.
What?
What?
Did I just hear what I thought I heard?
kfl, defend your racism. Prove to me that any group has a right to assault any other group.
Yes, assault. As has been stated so ably by scott evil, threatening someone with violence is assault even if no physical action comes of it. Ask any lawyer here. (Threatening someone and then beating the shit out of them is assault and battery, a different and more serious crime.)
:: shakes head in disbelief ::
{{{{{{Matt}}}}} I’m sorry you had to put up with that sweetie.
At least you know we loves ya.
Mattmcl:
Kind of funny that I have the exact same problem. While jogging I’ve been threatened repeatedly by this huge black dog. Then I got attacked for real by it. I literally got bit on the hand enough to break the skin.
I called the humane society. They told me to call animal control. Animal control told me to call the police. The police asked if I was injured. I said “no.” and they told me what I have to do is serve the owner with a subpoena that I can come in and get, and then if the dog attacks me again they can do something about it.
How the hell can I serve a guy with a subpoena about his attack dog when there’s an attack dog stopping me from getting anywhere near his house.
So today I got pepper spray and a car antenna.
Maybe you should do the same for your dog problem.
matt_mcl, sorry for my flip reply earlier. I can’t imagine what you’re going through, but I’m sure you will find a way to get something done about this kind of thing.
Really, my heart goes out to yez.
To follow up, I filed a complaint today. It went quite well. They’re certainly not going to try to investigate it, which was not the point; but the point is, it’s going into the statistics, and also they’ll pass it along to the STM (transit company) so they know this sort of thing is going on.
We don’t have an official hate crimes unit in Montreal. I asked why not, and the officer says, “We don’t have enough of that kind of crime - I mean, we don’t have enough reports of that kind of crime.”
So there you go.
Call ME a fag, and I’ll slap you across the face with my purse…
Heh. My purse would have been a hassle to get off my neck. And it had my camera and palm pilot in it, that I didn’t want to damage. But it would have packed a wallop.
Wanna borrow my backpack then, matt? Usually full of bigass coffee table books about obscure European royalty. Guaranteed to put someone in traction!