From Prop 8 Hurt My Family – Ask Me How (Photo: Marriage Equality USA)
“My 20 year old son (who is gay) and I started rallying at visible corners around Sacramento back in August. I cannot tell you how many times I was told I was going to hell and that my son was an abomination. My son was spit on, called names, told he was a demon, a freak of nature, and a pedophile. All I could see was pain in my son‟s face. It was hard for me, but my son was hurt the most. Now he is scared to walk down the street alone …depressed because half of the people he runs into voted to keep him from ever knowing what it is like to be a husband.”
— Sacramento County, from Prop 8 Hurt My Family – Ask Me How
Back on 16 March, I wrote about the surge in anti-GLBT hate crimes in Santa Clara County. Writing at the Bay Area Reporter, my friend Dan Aiello has pulled together much more information on the negative impact of that heinous ballot initiative on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Californians, our families and our non-GLBT allies:
D.A. blames Prop 8 for anti-gay violence
Incidents of anti-gay hate crimes doubled in at least one Bay Area county last year and one prosecutor is attributing the increase to Proposition 8 and the ensuing same-sex marriage debate.
Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Jay Boyarsky, assigned to monitor hate crimes in the South Bay, told the Bay Area Reporter the likely reason for the spike in anti-gay violence is Prop 8.
“Hate crimes track headlines,” Boyarsky said, and the LGBT community’s increased visibility from the marriage debate stirred emotions about gays and lesbians that led to anti-gay attacks. Boyarsky said his experience with other minorities helped lead him to his conclusion about the statistical increase.
[ ... ]
Boyarsky also recalled how the public debate over immigration reform two years ago led to an increase in anti-Latino violence.
“Anti-immigrant bashing increased,” he said.
“When it comes to the attacks against the LGBT community last year it seems that the number of anti-gay incidents are based on the increased visibility of the community because of Prop 8. More visibility and more controversy leads to an increase in hate crimes,” Boyarsky said, though he cautioned against reading too much into such a small statistical sample. “We saw an increase from seven of 20 to 14 of 25. These are statistics and you can spin them different ways. I think the fairest way to say it is the local government offices in Santa Clara County are seeing a spike, seeing an increase, in the number of hate crimes against the LGBT community.”
[ ... ]
Sacramento Police Sergeant Norm Leong told the B.A.R. that in 2007 there were 20 hate crimes, of which four were LGBT related. In 2008, Sacramento saw a total of 13 hate crimes, seven of which were attacks against the LGBT community. For 2009, the capital city so far has had a total of three hate crimes, all of which were perpetrated against LGBT people.
Sacramento’s LGBT community has been impacted over the last decade by a large Slavic evangelical community that is virulently anti-gay, according to LGBT activist Jerry Sloan. Sloan told the B.A.R. that the high percentage of hate crimes being perpetrated against LGBT victims in the region “is not surprising.”
There is much more at the link. Aiello also provides a link to a PDF document published by Marriage Equality USA called Prop 8 Hurt My Family – Ask Me How. Here’s an excerpt from the Introduction to this powerful accounting of the harm wrought not only by California’s Prop 8 but by anti-marriage-equality measures across the country:
In January 2009, the American Psychological Association (APA) released three separate studies that described the psychological distress associated with anti same-sex marriage amendments. One study using national survey responses of LGBTI individuals found that those who live in states that have passed marriage amendments experienced increased psychological stress not due to other pre-existing conditions but as “a direct result of the negative images and messages associated with the ballot campaign and the passage of the amendment.” Furthermore, participants reported feeling “alienated from their community, fearful they would lose their children, and concerned they would become victims of anti-gay violence.” These studies also reported that this harm extends to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) family members and straight allies who experience a form of “secondary minority stress.” Finally, “although many participants displayed resiliency and effective coping with this stress, some experienced strong negative consequences to their mental and physical health.”
Marriage Equality USA, through a series of town halls held across California and a national on-line survey of over 3,100 respondents, collected community input regarding the homophobia and other harm experienced through initiative campaigns, like Proposition 8, and received personal stories that mirror these APA findings. In our report “Prop 8 Hurt My Family – Ask Me How,” we collected almost 1,200 individual experiences which illustrate how:
- LGBTI people experience increased verbal abuse, homophobia, physical harm and other discrimination associated with or resulting from the Prop 8 campaign;
- Children of same-sex couples express fear due to direct exposure to homophobia and hate and concerns that the passage of Prop 8 means they could be taken from their families and targeted for further violence;
- LGBTI youth and their supporters experience increased bullying at schools as Prop 8’s passage fosters a supportive environment for homophobic acts of physical and emotional violence;
- Straight allies experience the impact of homophobia firsthand and express shock and fear for their LGBTI family members and friends and the danger they may experience if they were perceived as gay or an ally;
- Families are torn apart as relatives divide on Prop 8; and
- Communities are destroyed from the aftermath of abusive behavior towards them during local street demonstrations, neighborhood divisions, and the impact of “knowing your neighbor” voted against your family.
The MEUSA document provides a list of counseling and community resources for the LGBTI community, our children and our straight allies. Visit Marriage Equality USA for more information and to get involved with the movement to restore equality to California.
