December 1985

BWMT

Anniversary

The Cleveland chapter of Black and White Men Together celebrated its fifth anniversary the weekend of November 1-3.

Beginning Friday evening with a reception at St. Philomena, the weekend activities continued Saturday morning with meetings of the Regional Network and the Discrimination Response System. Saturday afternoon Albert McQueen, Professor of Sociology at Oberlin College, led a workshop on Black and White Styles in Conflict.

Featured speaker at the Anniversary Banquet Saturday evening was Aubrey Wertheim, director of the Violence Project of the National Gap Task Force.

During the ceremonies Saturday evening, awards were presented to Bob Reynolds and to attorney Carter Dodge for their services to the Discrimination Response Sys-

tem.

The program also included installation of BWMT officers for 1986. The co-chairs are John Pugh and Darrell D.; secretary, Jerry Bores; N.A. treasurer, Willie T.

delegates are Homer A. and Ray Davis. Discrimination Response System representatives are Homer A. and Willie T.

Gay Peoples Chromcie

Page 13

Aubrey Wertheim speaking at BWMT Anniversary.

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by Kevin Berrill

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One of the primary the Violence Project to ensure justice and adequate services for lesbian and gay victims of crime and violence. Indications are that the vast majority of lesbian and gay victims do not report crimes against them to the police or seek services available to victims. Those who do step forward often receive an indifferent or even hostile response from those responsible for protecting and assisting thei. Gay victims who are brave enough to pursue a case through the criminal justice system may also confront homophobia from prosecutors, judges and juries.

One way I have sought to ensure that gay and lesbian victims receive fair and compassionate treatment is through my work with

National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA). an umbrella organization comprising more than 1,000 victim service, prosecutor and police agencies. NOVA receives a considerable amount of Department of Justice funding and has had a tremendous impact on the victims' movement.

On September 2-6, I represented lesbian and gay victim concerns at the annual NOVA conference in Kauai, Hawaii. This was the sixth national NOVA-sponsored conference I have participated in during the past two years, and I think NGTF's involvement with that organization has resulted in

some significant strides for lesbian and gay victims.

At this year's conference co-facilitated a workshop lesbian and gay victims Christensen, with Diana

Executive Director of San Francisco's Community United Against Violence, a gay and lesbian victim assistance program. At the workshop, I described some of the particular problems facing gay crime victims and recommended ways in which agencies could improve their services and outreach to the gay and lesbian community. We also discussed ways to deal with homophobia and discrimination within service agencies.

While attending workshops on prosecuting sexual assault and homicide cases, I was disturbed to learn how difficult it can be for prosecutors to win cases involving gay victims. One district attorney from the state of Washington recounted to me a case involving a gay man who was nearly decapitated by an assailant. The victim survived, but his assailant was acquitted by the jury because he said the victim had made a sexual advance towards him. Another Assistant District Attorney from Alabama told me he had tried "bunches of cases" involving gay male victims, and hadn't won one yet because of the tremendous prejudice against gays. Fortunately some prosecutors have learned how to improve their ability to win cases for gay victims, and in the next year I hope to arrange forums and workshops för

prosecutors on dealing with this issue.

ago. has

Also at the conference convened a meeting of the NOVA Committee on" Lesbian and Gay Victim Concerns which I founded two years Committee membership tripled in the past year, and its members have taken part in NOVA workshops, consulted on NOVA brochures and lobbied to ensure that gay victim concerns were addressed in policy statements. This year the committee will lobby to have lesbian and gay concerns specifically åddressed in next years Victim Rights Week theme and related publicity materials. We will also be working on other projects to raise the profile of this issue within the organization and the entire victims' movement.

In hopes that I could exert more influence on NOVA programs and policy, I ran for the board of the directors--and lost in a close election. I was consoled by supporters, a number of whom offered to be "campaign managers" for me at the next annual conference. I fully intend to run again. Following the election I met with several NOVA board members and asked for their support of our efforts to make NOVA more responsive to lesbian and gay victims. I was heartened to hear Marlene Young, the NOVA Executive Director, speak about the victims of anti-gay violence in her closing address. was the first time gay people had ever been mentiohed in any of her major speeches.

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