Lesbian gang raped in Richmond...Gay organizations remain silent ...

Lesbian gang raped in Richmond...Gay organizations remain silent.

by WTF
Saturday Dec 27th, 2008 5:58 PM
Outside of CUAV (Community United Against Violence), no one seems to care. After almost a week after the attack, this is the first posting on the site about the event. Below is info about tonight's vigil. Is Gay Marriage really more important than protecting our people from being raped and murdered? The Bay Area gay community doesn't appear to think so.
Police continue to search for four men who kidnapped and gang-raped a woman on Dec. 13 in Richmond, CA. The 28-year-old openly lesbian Richmond resident was attacked after exiting her vehicle, which had a rainbow sticker on the license plate, and driven seven blocks away to a location where she was raped by the group for almost an hour.


While the cause of the crime is unknown, police are investigating the attack as a hate crime because of comments the suspects made about the victim’s orientation during the incident.


The attackers are being sought on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, robbery, kidnapping , carjacking , and sexual assault. The charges carry a hate crime enhancement.


A $10,000 reward for tips is being offered by the police. Anyone with information is being asked to call Detective Ysenia Rogers at (510) 672-1718.


CUAV and Hand to Hand Marti al Arts have organ ized a commu nity vigil for peace and heali ng set for Satur day, Decem ber 27 from 9:30 to 10 p.m. at the locat ion where the incid ent occur red, 1500 Visal ia Avenu e in Richm ond. The locat ion is near the Richm ond BART stati on and peopl e are encou raged to carpo ol, take BART, or walk toget her. Peopl e are also encou raged to bring a candl e.


A fund has been set up for the victi m. To donat e, send a check made payab le to Commu nity Viole nce Solut ions to: Commu nity Viole nce Solut ions, Attn: JoAnn Dougl as, 2101 Van Ness Stree t, San Pablo , CA 94806 . Write "To Richm ond Jane Doe" in the memo line.

Dec 23, 2008
California lesbian gang-raped 10 min-->
SAN FRANCISCO - A WOMAN was taunted for being a lesbian, repeatedly raped by four men and left naked outside an abandoned apartment building, authorities said.
Detectives say the 28-year-old victim was attacked Dec 13 after she got out of her car in Richmond, in the San Francisco Bay area.
'It just pushes it beyond fathomable,' said Richmond police Lt Mark Gagan on Monday. 'The level of trauma - physical and emotional - this victim has suffered is extreme.' Authorities are characterizing the attack as a hate crime.
Mr Gagan said the victim lived openly with a female partner and had a rainbow flag sticker on her car.
The 45-minute attack began when one of the men approached the woman as she crossed the street, struck her with a blunt object, ordered her to undress and sexually assaulted her with the help of the other men.
When the group saw another person approaching, they forced the victim back into her car and took her to a burned-out apartment building, where she was raped again inside and outside the vehicle.
The assailants took her wallet and drove off in her car. Officers found the car abandoned two days later.
Gay rights advocates note that hate crimes based on sexual orientation have increased nationwide. There were 1,415 such crimes in 2006 and 1,460 in 2007, both times making up about 16 per cent of the total, according to the FBI.
Avy Skolnik, a coordinator with the New York-based National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, noted that gay, lesbian and transgender crime victims may be more reluctant than heterosexual victims to contact police.
He also said the group plans to analyse hate crime data to see whether fluctuations may be related to the gay marriage bans that appeared on ballots this year in California, Arizona and Florida.
'Any time there is an anti-LGBT initiative, we tend to see spikes both in the numbers and the severity of attacks,' he said.
'People feel this extra entitlement to act out their prejudice.' -- AP