Unity Gathering
As previously reported by several news sources yesterday, we have recently experienced several attacks being investigated as hate crimes against gay men. A “Unity Gathering†organized by Councilmember Robert Garcia and the Gay and Lesbian Center of Long Beach in response to the attacks was conducted yesterday at Cherry Park, hundreds of people showed up in support.
Some of the speakers and city representatives included: Congresswoman Janice Hahn, Mayor Bob Foster, Councilmember Suja Lowenthal, Councilmember Robert Garcia, Councilmember Patrick O’Donnell, Councilmember Gary DeLong, Councilmember Steven Neal, the Courage Campaign, LB Lambda Democratic Club, Long Beach Pride, and our Police Department.
It was a great experience to be part of the rally, it was amazing to see how many people showed up, how many people cared and best of all it made me proud of my city, my community and the people I love. Great job and thank you to all of our city officials, not only for acknowledging the attacks but bringing people together and showing all of us that Long Beach is a welcoming and accepting that it doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from, or who you love.
The rally left me feeling empty, confused and mad.
This was it?
I came all this way in a taxi with a driver that yelled at me and refused my iPhone Taxi Magic payment, just to see a few local politicians parading their faces in front of TV and journalistic cameras pandering for future votes and publicity?
All I heard was empty words like “we will not stand for hate crimes in our community†and self-serving statements such as “I am newly elected to the US Congress and I came from across the bridge to stand by your sideâ€. Surprisingly those words did not fill the need of safety patrols on our streets in Long Beach at night. No one offered a solution or an idea on how to safeguard us now that we had 3 reported Hate Crimes in the last 10 days. I understand that we are in an economic hardship and the same politicians chatting us up at the rally vote for deep cuts to Fire and Police (please note my inserted sarcasm here).
However, I truly appreciated Eric Avila’s articulate speech. His words were heartfelt and appreciated. He actually took action when his friend was assaulted last weekend; he chased the assailant down and cornered him for the police to arrest the criminal.
Now it is time for more action.
Where are the business owners from the Broadway corridor offering their “gay†dollars earned through our patronage by forming a low-pay volunteer neighborhood safety force patrolling the corridor during critical hours? Here is an opportunity to keep our “gay†dollars coming back to their businesses by stepping up and saying that they care about us and our safety and they want us to return and patronize their businesses.
Or we can do nothing for a while until someone gets killed.
I am not saying that I have a magic solution for this but I would like to see our politicians, who we have elected, step up to the plate and offer more than just words. Think outside the box for once; actually make a difference in OUR lives not just change in their political existence and future.
Michael Barber are you willing to commit to partially fund and or spearhead a safety neighborhood patrol with the dollars WE keep bringing to your bars and restaurants? We have helped you flourish over many years, now you have an opportunity to keep our patronage by promoting our safe journey to and from your businesses.
Let me know how I can help.
Oliver,
I commend you on and respect your very heartfelt and passionate words. I most certainly agree with you on the fact that many of the ideas and words behind the actions of this ‘unity gathering’ seemed to be more media- and image-driven than genuine or praxis-based. I also stand by your assertion that instead of offering tokens of cheap tolerance ideology, we must focus on handling the issue at hand.
However, I do think that we must take a step back to analyze what is happening and what falls into ‘hate crime’ versus crime that happened to involve derogatory words. According to the LBPD — which is by no means the authoritative figure on what constitutes a hate crime but is nonetheless a respectable source — there was only ONE hate crime. Two groups getting into a violent battle where one happens to drop anti-gay slurs does not necessarily constitute a hate crime, where the crime is specifically driven by the hatred of a particular group; derogatory, racist, sexist, and homophobic remarks are dropped in practically every violently driven battle. Before we begin asserting that Long Beach is becoming a haven for anti-gay crime (such as the compulsive reaction to yell, ‘Hate crime!’ towards the recent egging of a home that happened to have a rainbow flag on it when we have no proof that such a driving factor was at hand), I encourage all of us to have a moment of reservation before we begin crying wolf.
Nonetheless, whether these crimes had occurred or not, the need for neighborhood watch — at least for me, particularly given I was mugged at my home near 3rd & Temple — is essential not just for the protection of the LGBTQ community, but the community at large.
Oliver,
I understand your frustration, and I know where you’re coming from. Yes, it was just another opportunity for our politicians to take a picture and end up on the papers, but I viewed it from a different perspective, the rally brought us together, and it is up to US to continue being together and supporting each other.
I believe it is not just the city official’s job or the LBPD job to protect our neighborhoods, but it’s also the community’s job. It us up to us to influence each other and keep a safe and welcoming environment.
Let me be truly honest, I feel really bad and honestly I don’t wish any kind of violence upon anyone for any reason, but the community we are talking about (and I include myself as part of this community), “the bar” community we really take for granted everything we got, when was the last time any of us held a fundraiser to help The Center? when did we go volunteer at the AIDS Food Store? or did any kind of “community service” I know there are some people out there that do, and I am truly thankful for what they do. My point is, no one cared until something happened, and that’s not the city’s fault, that’s not the cops fault for not having “enough patrols” it’s a whole community’s fault, we forget and take for granted the freedom we have in this city, the freedom to be who we are.
So to end this, I think we all should take responsibility and come together as the community we are and watch out for each other.