Gay bashing on the rise in Vancouver: councillor

[OhioGuy]

Gay bashing on the rise in Vancouver: councillor

Jordan Smith had never held hands with a man in public before. But late one September night in 2008, the 27-year-old airline pilot impulsively intertwined fingers with his boyfriend, as they walked home through the city’s well-known gay neighbourhood.

Their affection lasted all of five minutes. A group of young men accosted the couple with a series of gay slurs. One of them then struck Mr. Smith from behind, sending him unconscious to the sidewalk, a hard tumble that broke his jaw.

“That night, we just threw caution to the winds,” Mr. Smith recalled this week. “You see what happened.”

His assailant, Michael Kandola, was eventually sentenced to 17 months in prison, after a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled the attack a hate crime.

The incident was far from isolated that year. Over all in 2008, Metro Vancouver police forces reported 34 hate-crime cases motivated by sexual orientation, the highest per-capita frequency of such attacks in the country.

They contributed to a disturbing trend across Canada that saw hate crimes against gays and lesbians more than double, from 71 in 2007 to 159 a year later. The numbers, reported last month by Statistics Canada, have prompted some to label Vancouver “the gay-bashing capital of Canada.”

While figures may reflect more reporting of anti-gay crimes than an actual new wave of assaults, Vancouver Councillor Tim Stevenson, a United Church minister who has been “out” for 30 years, doesn’t shy from the tag.

“Unfortunately, we are the gay-bashing capital,” Mr. Stevenson said. “While I don’t think there’s been a huge spike, it’s on the increase. Gay-bashing is not going down, that’s for sure. The question is: ‘Why not?’ ”

[SpongeG]

most of the publicized cases end up being minorities doing the bashings - usually east indian which seems to have an anti-gay bent

I know i've walked down davie a few times and had things yelled at me and my friends from passing cars - they just yell at anyone seen on davie aka the "gay" street - they have always been males of a visible minority doing it - they yell at anyone they see

i think their communities need to start dealing with the problem more so than the gay community does

[Distill3d]

I've never understood peoples mentality over things that do not affect the way they live their own lives. So someone is gay, if you're a straight man (as I am), just think about the fact that the more gay men there are, the more single and available females there are. Is that really such a hard concept to grasp?

[canucks23]

I'm straight and I don't understand the gay bashing either. It must be some insecurity thing.

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

most of the publicized cases end up being minorities doing the bashings - usually east indian which seems to have an anti-gay bent

I know i've walked down davie a few times and had things yelled at me and my friends from passing cars - they just yell at anyone seen on davie aka the "gay" street - they have always been males of a visible minority doing it - they yell at anyone they see

i think their communities need to start dealing with the problem more so than the gay community does

I hate to name names (and I hope this won't get me kicked off the forum) but the Muslim community has no tolerance for gays whatever, and is sometimes overtly hostile towards it. This could explain the "visible minority" aspect.

In Iran, under Shi'ite Islam, a gay man must go through a sex-change operation. if not, he is sentenced to death.

Here in Canada, I think one of the key omissions we have made with our multi-cultural immigration policy, is the lack of explanation of Canadian customs and norms, including legal norms. This includes tolerance and respect for everyone, of course. However and unfortunately, many immigrants treat their new country as an extension of their old country, and feel that it is acceptable to continue their public behaviour as previously. IMO, this is something that should be addressed, in seminars, individual counselling, part of the immigration procedure; you name it.

Freak it!!! Some ethnic groups, when a husband and wife disagree, the husband chops her up and stuffs her in a garbage can or in a pizza oven!!!!! That"s NOT what the Canadian lifestyle or legal code is about, any more than if you happen to disapprove of gays.

[nova9]

here it is the indo-canadian. but you know what, defying homophobia with racial profiling isn't helpful either. plus, i know so many other cultures that say things about homosexuals, they just don't have a habit of physically hurting gays - but the sentiment of ignorance and hate is still there.

that being said, HAPPY PRIDE EVERYONE!

[Hed Kandi]

Frankly, if two guys want to be together I have no problem with it.

All it means is more women left for me.

[Delirium]

not for anything but the guy who beat up Jordan Smith is so obviously gay.
i mean look at him. Sorry but that's way beyond metro...

photo; http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/profile-...47360_9410.jpg

From the coiffed hair, ear rings, plucked eyebrows, two-sizes-too-small clothing, it's painfully clear the man is a raging homo but has serious issues about it because his religion tells him he's wrong. So he takes it out on gay men who can live their lives openly and freely.

What;s unfortunate is that you can get a longer jail term for tax evasion than for striking someone on the street and breaking their jaw just because their gay. That needs to change.

[nova9]

hey, hitting gays is one thing....but denying the government money, don't mess. i don't understand how some families raise their children to be honest.

[Yume-sama]

I don't really understand how you can live in Vancouver and hate teh gehs. Like, really? Look around you Look who serves you at almost every restaurant~

And yes he should get more than 17 months. Obviously he has problems.

And yes, it is usually minority communities that have the biggest homophobic problems. At least, that's the spin on the California Prop 8 thing.

[duener]

Originally Posted by trofirhen

Freak it!!! Some ethnic groups, when a husband and wife disagree, the husband chops her up and stuffs her in a garbage can or in a pizza oven!!!!! That"s NOT what the Canadian lifestyle or legal code is about, any more than if you happen to disapprove of gays.

Yep... the "elephant in the room" here is that immigrants bring cultural baggage with them that can include unsavoury aspects. When everyone talks about multiculturalism as as good thing they're usually referring to cuisine or work ethic. But misogyny, bribery, nepotism and homophobia are all cultural elements that immigrants can bring with them.

I think the solution is for Canadians to take a bit of pride in our culture and scrap multiculturalism. We should promote assimilation and the notion that our enlightened culture of tolerance is superior.

Thankfully it looks like the federal government is changing the immigration system so that newcomers are spread out across the country. That should help immigrants assimilate and prevent anyone coming from a homophobic culture from passing it on to their kids.

[dubsH]

Originally Posted by duener

But misogyny, bribery, nepotism and homophobia are all cultural elements that immigrants can bring with them.

I think the solution is for Canadians to take a bit of pride in our culture and scrap multiculturalism. We should promote assimilation and the notion that our enlightened culture of tolerance is superior.

lol nice try.

What do we do about the non-immigrants in Canada who have "cultural practices" (seriously?) of misogyny, bribery, nepotism, and homophobia?

If anything, I'd say it's misinterpretation of religion (whichever one, including the ones that the majority of Canadians are practicing) causing a lot of the bigotry. Should we also try to assimilate the religious into the non-religious crowd?

Assimilation worked well for the US eh? No attacks on the homosexuals there!

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by duener

Yep... the "elephant in the room" here is that immigrants bring cultural baggage with them that can include unsavoury aspects. When everyone talks about multiculturalism as as good thing they're usually referring to cuisine or work ethic. But misogyny, bribery, nepotism and homophobia are all cultural elements that immigrants can bring with them.

I think the solution is for Canadians to take a bit of pride in our culture and scrap multiculturalism. We should promote assimilation and the notion that our enlightened culture of tolerance is superior.

Right on!! Although the "politically correct" types would try and shoot you down on that. However, I have a feeling that the P-Cers have gone so far and restricted so much, and pushed so much, that people are reaching their tolerance limit, and that the majority will soon tell them to shut-the-freak-up.
I hope so, anyway.

[ozonemania]

Originally Posted by duener

Yep... the "elephant in the room" here is that immigrants bring cultural baggage with them that can include unsavoury aspects. When everyone talks about multiculturalism as as good thing they're usually referring to cuisine or work ethic. But misogyny, bribery, nepotism and homophobia are all cultural elements that immigrants can bring with them.

I think the solution is for Canadians to take a bit of pride in our culture and scrap multiculturalism. We should promote assimilation and the notion that our enlightened culture of tolerance is superior.

Thankfully it looks like the federal government is changing the immigration system so that newcomers are spread out across the country. That should help immigrants assimilate and prevent anyone coming from a homophobic culture from passing it on to their kids.

You over-estimate the so-called tolerance of the non-immigrant population. You go to any school yard and tell me that WASP kids are any less likely to be the ones calling ppl gay and faggots and threatening them with violence. These kids learn these attitudes from somewhere.

If you say wow 3 in 10 gay bashers are East Indian... well guess what, that still means 7 out of 10 gay bashers are not East Indian. You still say that non-immigrants are more tolerant?

The way I see it is it has more to do with cultural attitudes toward physical violence. East Indians may culturally observe more domestic/physical violence than others, perhaps in inequality of the sexes etc, so in a way it is a learned way of dealing with conflicts. They are no more or less bigoted than a WASP Canadian, they just handle it differently.'

Finally I can't belive I'm hearing ppl say scrap multiculturalism. That is the most ironic statement I've heard. YOu say you are tolerant but you want to close your doors to ppl that are different than you. Canada would not be the society it is today, for good or for bad, without this policy. By saying you reject multiculturalism you are also saying that you reject what Canada has accomplished by being the diverse tolerant society it is today.

[SpongeG]

based on the last few local cases... the couple beat outside their condo were beaten by two indo-canadian brothers from richmond, the one on davie street as pictured is indo-canadian

of course there are others who do it but it seems to be prevalant with them for some reason and their respective communities need to do something about it

[EdinVan]

Originally Posted by ozonemania

You over-estimate the so-called tolerance of the non-immigrant population. You go to any school yard and tell me that WASP kids are any less likely to be the ones calling ppl gay and faggots and threatening them with violence. These kids learn these attitudes from somewhere.

Basic perceptual processes also play a role. Associations between people and events are remembered most easily when both are relatively uncommon (something which had been quite adaptive in our evolutionary past). Gay bashings in Canada are relatively uncommon (compared to other countries), as is the percentage of East Indian men in the population. When the two co-occur, a strong association is formed and it comes to mind more easily than other associations. When asked to judge who is most responsible for gay bashings, we draw on whatever examples come to mind most readily. In this case, it's those memorable instances in which gay bashings were perpetrated by a minority group. Gay bashings perpetrated by members of the majority (ie, whites) don't register as much, even though they are more common.

[delboy]

Hatred to various groups has always been around. Having lived in the West End around Davie Village off and on for the past 17 years or so, I can't say that I ever noticed that it was a major issue.

I suspect it's the media sensationalizing as they always seem to do.

People really need to grow up.

[SpongeG]

depends what "bashing" means - is it being beaten or just being subjected to name calling?

me and my friends numerous times have been called names by people driving down davie over the years - is that bashing?

its sad but you get used to it and block it out

[SpikePhanta]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

most of the publicized cases end up being minorities doing the bashings - usually east indian which seems to have an anti-gay bent

I know i've walked down davie a few times and had things yelled at me and my friends from passing cars - they just yell at anyone seen on davie aka the "gay" street - they have always been males of a visible minority doing it - they yell at anyone they see

i think their communities need to start dealing with the problem more so than the gay community does

I don't want to be racist, but in a high school I went to, they're were lots of east indians, a large group of them in my business class, who just talk during the whole class. One of them says " Every second week I like to go to Davie st. and scream faggots to all the gays on the street" And his group who were east indians all started laughing and saying "alright, i'll join you"

Originally Posted by trofirhen

I hate to name names (and I hope this won't get me kicked off the forum) but the Muslim community has no tolerance for gays whatever, and is sometimes overtly hostile towards it. This could explain the "visible minority" aspect.

In Iran, under Shi'ite Islam, a gay man must go through a sex-change operation. if not, he is sentenced to death.

I dunno I've seen many gays who are muslim around vancouver.

Anyways being a teenager, I see that there is tons of homophobia in school.
I'm strait but I do tolerate does who are gay, I mean some gay people are super nice!

Btw where is Mr.X?

[SpongeG]

Mr X has left the boards