Kansas City hate crimes increase in ’07

By: Kelli Bamforth, Staff writer

“Amy,” 28, Kansas City, had lived with her 7-year-old daughter in their neighborhood about two years when some teenagers began harassing her daughter because her mom is a “dyke.”

One afternoon, one of the teenagers took off her belt and hit her daughter with it. Their house was vandalized, their back window shot out.

A victim’s advocate at the Kansas City Anti-Violence Project helped find new housing for Amy and her daughter. The advocate also went with Amy to the police station to report what had happened.

In Waldo, a gay couple wanting to rent a house was turned away because the owners thought “they would not fit in” with the neighborhood.

These are two examples of discrimination against Kansas City’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community, or LGBT.

The first example is included in a report issued recently by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, which showed an overall 24 percent increase from 2006 to 2007 in the total number of victims reporting incidents of anti-LGBT violence.

In Kansas City, the number of victims increased 142 percent, from 12 to 29.

KCAVP Executive Director Doug Riley said the increase is likely related to increased outreach and community exposure that persuade more crime victims to report the incident.

“We don’t really know whether the increase is actually related to an increase in crime,” Riley said. “Increased visibility and exposure might make more people willing to report. In 2007, we established an online hate crime reporting (system) so that people may feel more safe to report to us.

“Hate crime reporting is based on who calls us. It is self-reporting … we don’t talk to police.”

Hate crimes are crimes motivated by bias – whether based on race, religion, gender expression or sexual orientation, said KCAVP victim advocate Lindsey Moore.

“Victims are specifically targeted on those bases,” Moore said. “There is also a different impact on the community as a whole. Hate crimes can instill fear in the larger community and can send the message that you’re not welcome.”

Established in 2002, KCAVP helps LGBT victims of domestic violence, sexual abuse and hate crimes. Services include court, medical and police advocacy, support groups, counseling and therapy, and emergency assistance.

KCAVP also offers education and outreach programs to the community at-large, including training sessions, marketing campaigns and group speakers.

The number of Kansas City hate crime incidents increased from 27 to 47 in 2007. A crime can include multiple incidents; for example, a victim can be intimidated as well as assaulted with a weapon, Moore said.

In Kansas City, the majority of hate crimes are committed against gay men and transgendered individuals. They most often occur in areas near gay bars.

“That’s not to say things don’t happen in the suburbs,” Riley said. “But people report to us mainly in the city, near bars, restaurants or coffee shops perceived to be LGBT.”

A new outreach coordinator has helped increase the office’s visibility with such efforts as a billboard campaign. Community awareness of hate crimes has also increased in recent times, Riley said.

“I can only speak for Kansas City, but I would say at least in the LGBT community (awareness) has increased because we are here,” he said. “Before, people were not really aware of us. There can be a lot of internalized transphobia and homophobia in the gay community; they don’t realize they don’t deserve to be spoken to or treated that way. They didn’t realize they should seek services.

“We’re not blaming them at all … it’s their choice if they want to report. They may feel they didn’t have to. Hate crimes go from one extreme to another; someone being called a name may not feel like that’s a report of bias.”

Hate crimes statistics vary

FBI hate crime statistics usually differ from those reported by victim services organizations.

The most recent FBI Hate Crimes Statistics report is based on 2006 figures. Of 7,720 single-bias incidents, 15.5 percent, or about 1,196, were triggered by a sexual orientation bias.

Of those, 62.3 percent of hate crimes were classified as “anti-male homosexual based.”

NCAVP said the bureau’s reporting consistently contains information on fewer cases because it relies solely on law enforcement reports of such crimes.

Riley said victims might not file police reports.

“Not everybody chooses to report because of fear of how they could be treated by police,” he said. “They might think they’re not taken seriously, or they might feel nothing would happen because of the type of crime.

“Also, the FBI uniform crime reporting is a voluntary process for law enforcement entities … bisexual and transgendered hate crimes are not always included, only gay men and lesbians are counted. There are multiple reasons why there are discrepancies.”

In 2007, KCAVP began working with law enforcement and the judicial system regarding treatment of LGBT hate crime victims.

“We have had a difficult time getting into law enforcement and the judicial system,” Riley said. “We work with court advocates and within the city and county offices, but training has been difficult … our outreach education coordinator has begun connecting with the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department, meeting with those from the top down to begin an open dialogue about LGBT violence.

“The response has definitely been positive. KCMO is willing to talk to us and work with us about these crimes.”

State hate crime law efforts pay off

PROMO is Missouri’s statewide organization advocating for LGBT equality through legislation, grassroots organizing and community education.

Executive Director A.J. Bockelman said PROMO worked to secure passage of a new hate crimes bill in 1999. The bill added sexual orientation, gender and disability to the state’s existing hate crimes law.

“The LGBT community is frequently a target of hate crimes and biased language which can sometimes escalate to a hate crime if someone is assaulted,” Bockelman said. “There are increased incidences against certain LGBT individuals. Liberal estimates suggest seven of 10 transgendered individuals are subject to violence at some time in their life … that’s a pretty startling statistic. We believe it’s important to have hate crimes laws on the books.”

Efforts continue to add these categories to the federal hate crimes law, Bockelman said.

Commonly referred to as the Matthew Shepard Act, the proposal seeks to add sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and disability to existing federal law that already includes race, color, religion or national origin.

Matthew Shepard attended the University of Wyoming in 1998 when he was approached by two men pretending to be gay. The men robbed Shepard, beat him and left him to die, tied to a fence in a rural area.

Shepard died in the hospital five days later.

Various versions of the hate crimes bill, named after Shepard, have passed the House or Senate in recent years, but have never reached the president.

Bockelman said increased reporting by hate crime victims is “a sign of the times.”

“The LGBT community does feel more comfortable being out and open … with more people comfortable being out, more are comfortable reporting being victims of a hate crime,” Bockelman said. “It also depends on the community. Kansas City or St. Louis are pretty open areas where people feel comfortable being out, whereas someplace like Kirksville you may not …

“If you’re not comfortable being identified as LGBT, you might say you were beat up, but not say how or why.”

Local task force focuses on education, outreach

The Kansas City Council recently unanimously passed an ordinance to add gender identity to the city’s discrimination law.

The original ordinance was amended about 10 years ago to include sexual orientation, but it was thought not enough votes existed to include gender identity and protection of transgendered individuals, said Kelly Kendall, chair of the Kansas City Human Rights Commission’s Task Force on Gay and Lesbian issues.

“That was a big deal this year,” Kendall said about the ordinance’s passage. “I was out at (Kansas City Gay) Pride a few weeks ago passing out Frisbees announcing that. I pulled out excerpts from three or four pages of the law and shared that with the folks at Pride.”

The task force focuses on getting the word out about “anything discriminatory that affects the gay and lesbian community,” Kendall said.

“We want to let people know their rights and how to report things, like filing a complaint for employment discrimination,” Kendall said. “The law does not allow for discrimination in housing, public accommodations or employment. There is no difference between discrimination against a gay couple and discrimination against a single black mother or a Hispanic couple. You should be protected in those three areas.”

Those found guilty of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity can be fined up to $500. The amount may not be a big financial burden, but reports can result in publicity and increased awareness, Kendall said.

The task force partnered with KCAVP to co-sponsor a billboard series on discrimination and domestic violence and also sponsored the opening film of Tivoli Cinemas’ Kansas City Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, which began Friday, June 27.

The film, “Ask Not,” examined the effects of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

Kendall agrees that the increase in hate crimes can probably be attributed to increased awareness and outreach.

“Also, people are probably more comfortable coming forward rather than sitting back and taking it,” he said. “The visibility in statistics and reporting means the LGBT community knows they need to report it. For a long time, they didn’t want to be part of the headline … but I just don’t think it’s the stereotype it used to be. People are a little more comfortable reporting, especially from a domestic violence standpoint.

“Part of the task force is getting out and making sure they know the resources and what sites to go to. Hopefully that all goes together and makes Kansas City a better place to live long-term.”

The Human Rights Commission has task forces on business/labor, gay and lesbian issues, law enforcement, media relations, religion, and youth/education.

Kendall said he expects “a lot of things happening this year.”

“This is the first year in about three that we’re back on track (financially),” he said. “There’s a flurry of activity right now we haven’t seen for years. There’s the whole debate about immigration, a few things happening in the LGBT community, what’s going on at Power and Light. We have four new members really energized who want to go after some things.”

Kendall lives with his partner, Brian. The couple have an 11-year-old son, Bailey.

Kendall said that while the LGBT community has made strides in being accepted, work remains from a financial and legal standpoint to make sure gays and lesbians have the same rights as others.

“It’s amazing what people don’t understand,” he said. “You might be gay and in a committed relationship, but the standard things afforded to a married couple aren’t afforded to us. We need a lot of paperwork to protect ourselves.

“That’s the next big hurdle for the community. We have some room to grow from the acceptability standpoint, but having the rights from a legal and financial standpoint is the whole reason for the marriage thing. I don’t understand why it’s taken the United States so long … whether it’s Canada or England or whatever, they’ve made changes to the laws that makes it allowable.

“We’ll get there, but it sure seems like it’s taking us awhile.”

The Kansas City Anti-Violence Project provides information, support, referrals, advocacy and other services to LGBT survivors of violence. KCAVP also educates the community at-large through training and outreach programs. For more information, call 561-0550 or visit www.kcavp.org.

PROMO is Missouri’s statewide organization advocating for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender equality through legislative action, electoral politics, grassroots organizing and community education. For more information, call the Kansas City office at 931-2300 or visit www.promoonline.org.

For more information on the Kansas City Human Rights Commission, including resources for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community, visit www.kcmo.org or call 513-1807.

Contact Kelli Bamforth at 385-6024 or kellibamforth@ sunpublications.com.