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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

Dahmer

Continued from page 11

find out what's going on. This is crazy."

Dan Fons of ACT UP/Milwaukee agreed. "It's pretty clear that if the people disappearing had been white daughters of middle-class people, the police would have been doing a thorough statewide search until they found out who was responsible. Because it was a lot of black men, some of them known to be gay, it was ignored completely."

Fons himself has been arrested several times by Milwaukee police during ACT UP protests. "The police make it very clear that if you live the gay lifestyle, you deserve whatever you get, as they think it's a bunch of gay people hurting each other; it really doesn't deserve their attention."

Scott Gunkel, who works as a bartender at Milwaukee's Club 219, commented on the slow response time when police are called to an altercation or gay-bashing incident at the bars. Lack of police response is also a complaint voiced for years by the city's African-American citizens.

Gunkel noted that during the time when the victims were disappearing one by one, Milwaukee police were focusing instead on raiding strip shows at gay bars. On March 28 of this year, 30 officers in a dozen squad cars closed down Club 219 in the midst of a "Hot Buns" contest. Thirteen citations for disorderly conduct were issued. As recently as July 19, two male strippers were arrested at the Triangle bar for indecent exposure. Ironically, the Triangle's strip show that night was a fundraiser to combat hate crimes against gays.

Gunkel said that after the disappearance of Tony Hughes in May, Hughes' family came around to the gay bars and to the Gay Pride Parade in June to mingle with the gay community and ask for tips about his whereabouts. Gunkel asked, "Where were the police detectives? Why

September, 1991

weren't they doing their job?"

Gunkel also demanded to know why, if the police officers perceived their contact with Dahmer and Sinthasomphone in May as a domestic quarrel, they didn't invoke Wisconsin's mandatory arrest law for cases of domestic violence. That law applies to all people, regardless of sexual orientation.

Further criticism of police inaction came from the families of victims. Richard Guerrero's family filed a missing-persons report and called police regularly to see if there was any progress in the investigation.

Janie Hagan, Guerrero's sister, recalled officers telling her on one occasion, "He not the only one missing in the world."

Eddie Smith's sister filed a missing-persons report on her brother, but when she contacted police to report a frightening phone call in which the caller said he had killed Eddie, police could not find a record of the report. (Dahmer has admitted making anonymous calls to the victims' families.)

State Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, who represents the district in which Dahmer lived, said that when the family of Errol Lindsey reported him missing in April, "they received a very cavalier response. `Well, he's grown,' police allegedly said."

Despite the fact that Sinthasomphone's disappearance was reported to police only a few days after the May 27 incident, and despite the fact that the boy's disappearance was publicized throughout the media, police officers failed to make a connection

in that case.

To quell growing public outrage, Milwaukee Chief of Police Philip Arreola suspended the three officers involved in the Sinthasomphone incident and pressed administrative charges against them. Arreola said the officers involved "failed to conduct a basic, proper police investigation into the matter."

The state attomey general's office is currently investigating whether criminal charges are warranted.

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Adding to the uproar, the police union claimed the officers have been denied due process, returned a 98 percent no-confidence vote in the chief, demanding that he resign, and implied that some sort of job action (“blue flu”) could be imminent.

Rep. Moore asked state Attorney General Jim Doyle to conduct a broader investigation into all policies and procedures of the Milwaukee Police Department, citing the allegations of negligence by victims' families and reports of jokes about "niggers" and "fags" circulating within the Police Department.

Some black leaders, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who visited Milwaukee on a "mission of healing," have insisted that only a probe by the U.S. Justice Department can expose the full range of police misconduct.

Leaders of Milwaukee's lesbian and gay community joined the call for a comprehensive investigation of the Police Department as well as ongoing education on lesbian and gay issues for all department staff. They demanded an official liaison in the Police Department to work with the gay community and called for greater leadership from the mayor's office in implementing such reforms.

Mayor John O. Norquist was conspicuously silent during the extraordinary events rocking his city. When he finally made a statement condemning the killings, angry members of the black community heckled the mayor for what they perceived as his tardy remarks in the immediate crisis, and the lack of leadership he has displayed more generally on issues affecting the black community.

In response to the criticism, Norquist announced the appointment of a special blue ribbon commission to examine and make recommendations for improving police-community relations. Leaders of the lesbian and gay community were further infuriated by the mayor's action, however, because none of the nine appointees to that panel were recognized leaders of the

gay or black communities.

"I am thoroughly disappointed in the mayor's response to every aspect of this. whole horrible situation," said Kitty Barbe of the Lesbian Alliance of Metro Milwaukee. "It's obvious that we have a lot of work to do, not only with the police, not only with the general public, but with the mayor's office as well."

Local black leaders have formed a "black ribbon" commission to conduct its own investigation. Equally incensed, editorials in the state's two gay publications, Wisconsin Light and In Step, have called for a "lavender ribbon" panel to ensure that lesbian and gay issues are addressed.

The horrifying, grisly story and the subsequent grief, anger, and recriminations which have enveloped the city of Milwaukee have made it seem as if the city is indeed suffering a "collective nervous breakdown."

Rep. Moore tried to calm rising emotions.

"Being angry and feeling rage is normal in the grieving process," Moore said, “but in order to move past that point, we've got to pull together, to work through this together. We cannot allow this one man to cause the implosion of our community."

On Aug. 5, more than 1,000 people linked arms and sang "We Shall Overcome" at an emotional candlelight vigil in memory of the many men who were killed. Prayers and reminiscences were shared by friends and family members, and feelings of anger were voiced by many speak-

ers.

"I loved my son, regardless of his lifestyle," cried Shirley Hughes, clutching a photo of her son, Tony. "Please don't hold hatred in your hearts. Trust in the Lord to carry you through."

A close friend of Curtis Straughter's, a 17-year-old named Vernell, declared, "I'm black and I'm proud, and I'm gay and I'm proud!" to the cheers of the crowd. "As young, gay, black men, we deserve a Continued on page 17

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