lesbian's "extreme" gang rape being investigated in CA

[Amby 490]

SAN FRANCISCO — A woman in the San Francisco Bay area was jumped by four men, taunted for being a lesbian, repeatedly raped and left naked outside an abandoned apartment building, authorities said Monday.

Detectives say the 28-year-old victim was attacked Dec. 13 after she got out of her car, which bore a rainbow gay pride sticker. The men, who ranged from their late teens to their 30s, made comments indicating they knew her sexual orientation, said Richmond police Lt. Mark Gagan.

"It just pushes it beyond fathomable," he said. "The level of trauma — physical and emotional — this victim has suffered is extreme."

Authorities are characterizing the attack as a hate crime but declined to reveal why they think the woman was singled out because of her sexual orientation. Gagan would say only that the victim lived openly with a female partner and had a rainbow flag sticker on her car.

The 45-minute attack began when one of the men approached the woman as she crossed the street, struck her with a blunt object, ordered her to disrobe and sexually assaulted her on the spot with the help of the other men.

When the group saw another person approaching, they forced the victim back into her car and took her to a burned-out apartment building, where she was raped again inside and outside the vehicle. The assailants took her wallet and drove off in her car. Officers found the car abandoned two days later.

The woman sought help from a nearby resident, and she was examined at a hospital. Although the victim said she did not know her attackers, detectives hope someone in the community knows them. One of the men went by the nickname "Blue" and another was called "Pato," according to authorities.

Richmond police are offering a $10,000 award for information leading to the arrest of the attackers.

Gay rights advocates note that hate crimes based on sexual orientation have increased nationwide as of late. There were 1,415 such crimes in 2006 and 1,460 in 2007, both times making up about 16 percent of the total, according to the FBI.

Avy Skolnik, a coordinator with the New York-based National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, noted that gay, lesbian and transgender crime victims may be more reluctant than heterosexual victims to contact police.

"Assailants target LGBT people of all gender identities with sexual assault," he said. "Such targeting is one of the most cruel, dehumanizing and violent forms of hate violence that our communities experience."

Skolnik said the group plans to analyze hate crime data to see whether fluctuations may be related to the gay marriage bans that appeared on ballots this year in California, Arizona and Florida.

"Anytime there is an anti-LGBT initiative, we tend to see spikes both in the numbers and the severity of attacks," he said. "People feel this extra entitlement to act out their prejudice."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,471308,00.html

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Skolnik said the group plans to analyze hate crime data to see whether fluctuations may be related to the gay marriage bans that appeared on ballots this year in California, Arizona and Florida.

"Anytime there is an anti-LGBT initiative, we tend to see spikes both in the numbers and the severity of attacks," he said. "People feel this extra entitlement to act out their prejudice."

So, on one hand, they admit a need to "analyze" the data to see if there's a correlation.... and the on the other hand, the say there is one and then go as far as explaining why?

Seems to me like the LGBT activist groups are trying to exploit a tragedy to further their own post Prop-8 political agenda.

[zqt3344 21]

This is an outrage, no woman whether gay or straight should ever have this occur to them. Those criminals need to be brought to justice now! And hung by the balls!

SAN FRANCISCO — A woman in the San Francisco Bay area was jumped by four men, taunted for being a lesbian, repeatedly raped and left naked outside an abandoned apartment building, authorities said Monday.

Detectives say the 28-year-old victim was attacked Dec. 13 after she got out of her car, which bore a rainbow gay pride sticker. The men, who ranged from their late teens to their 30s, made comments indicating they knew her sexual orientation, said Richmond police Lt. Mark Gagan.

"It just pushes it beyond fathomable," he said. "The level of trauma — physical and emotional — this victim has suffered is extreme."

Authorities are characterizing the attack as a hate crime but declined to reveal why they think the woman was singled out because of her sexual orientation. Gagan would say only that the victim lived openly with a female partner and had a rainbow flag sticker on her car.

The 45-minute attack began when one of the men approached the woman as she crossed the street, struck her with a blunt object, ordered her to disrobe and sexually assaulted her on the spot with the help of the other men.

When the group saw another person approaching, they forced the victim back into her car and took her to a burned-out apartment building, where she was raped again inside and outside the vehicle. The assailants took her wallet and drove off in her car. Officers found the car abandoned two days later.

The woman sought help from a nearby resident, and she was examined at a hospital. Although the victim said she did not know her attackers, detectives hope someone in the community knows them. One of the men went by the nickname "Blue" and another was called "Pato," according to authorities.

Richmond police are offering a $10,000 award for information leading to the arrest of the attackers.

Gay rights advocates note that hate crimes based on sexual orientation have increased nationwide as of late. There were 1,415 such crimes in 2006 and 1,460 in 2007, both times making up about 16 percent of the total, according to the FBI.

Avy Skolnik, a coordinator with the New York-based National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, noted that gay, lesbian and transgender crime victims may be more reluctant than heterosexual victims to contact police.

"Assailants target LGBT people of all gender identities with sexual assault," he said. "Such targeting is one of the most cruel, dehumanizing and violent forms of hate violence that our communities experience."

Skolnik said the group plans to analyze hate crime data to see whether fluctuations may be related to the gay marriage bans that appeared on ballots this year in California, Arizona and Florida.

"Anytime there is an anti-LGBT initiative, we tend to see spikes both in the numbers and the severity of attacks," he said. "People feel this extra entitlement to act out their prejudice."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,471308,00.html

[mox 298]

Seems to me like the LGBT activist groups are trying to exploit a tragedy to further their own post Prop-8 political agenda.

Possibly, but I don't think so. This seems to be a pretty clear case of a "hate crime." I've never been comfortable with defining so-called "hate crimes" because I think a crime is a crime and should be prosecuted as such, no matter what the motive, but if we're going to go with "hate crimes" then this seems clear to me.

Sick effing bastards, I hope they're caught and locked up in general population forever.

[faryan 4]

This is an outrage, no woman whether gay or straight should ever have this occur to them. Those criminals need to be brought to justice now! And hung by the balls!

i feel the same way!

[Mononoke28 135]

Ohh poor lady. One more reason on her list to hate men. I hope she heals emotionally from this.

Diana

[macutelit 0]

This is an outrage, no woman whether gay or straight should ever have this occur to them. Those criminals need to be brought to justice now! And hung by the balls!

[mox 298]

Ohh poor lady. One more reason on her list to hate men. I hope she heals emotionally from this.

Assuming she hated men to begin with. But yeah, I can imagine the emotional scars towards men will stay with her forever.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

"Anytime there is an anti-LGBT initiative, we tend to see spikes both in the numbers and the severity of attacks," he said. "People feel this extra entitlement to act out their prejudice."

That is pretty disturbing.

[DeadPoolX 9]

I don't even see the point in this. By raping a lesbian, the anti-homosexual perpetrators have just given ammo to the LGBT groups. Of course... who said rapists were logical?

[Jasman0717 9]

Horrible crime

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Just about any rape (especially gangrape) is an act of misogyny (defined as hate of women).

The perps should be caught and castrated!

[Ken y Leidys 20]

Seems to me like the LGBT activist groups are trying to exploit a tragedy to further their own post Prop-8 political agenda.

A.J. - this has nothing to do with Gay Marriage. This was a hate crime. I know you're a bigtime Conservative, but don't be ignorant, too.

[panamania79 2]

This is an outrage, no woman whether gay or straight should ever have this occur to them. Those criminals need to be brought to justice now! And hung by the balls!

I think their balls should be chopped off !

[bhajishah 4]

Its still not right to rape anyone (esp gang). No matter the motives usally gang rape is not sexual.