Some two in five gay and bisexual men involved in intimate relationships report suffering from domestic abuse, according to a new survey, which is the same rate that straight women do.
Looking at LGBT domestic violence in the U.S., the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs found reported incidents of violence between queer partners increased 15 percent since 2008; the murder rate has increased 50 percent since 2007. Wow.
One in two lesbians will experience domestic violence at some point in their lives, the report found, while 78 percent of them say they have defended themselves or fought back against abusive partners. The most at-risk victims of domestic violence are aged 30-39, but like many of these statistics that figure relies on reported incidents.
It’s not just bullying from outsiders that threaten the well-being of our community. All too often, it’s one of our own — and it shouldn’t take Domestic Violence Month to remember that. If you or someone you know is involved in a relationship like this, please, do one little thing right now: Call 1?800?799?SAFE. [Florida Times Union]
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Zachary Davenport
Please remove the image in this article. It’s a misuse of my photo. The male in this photo is me and it were facial injuries I sustained from a violent Hate Crime I was a victim in….not a domestic violence matter. Please remove it immediately or I will seek legal representation.
ouaisOut
Whoa. I have worked in print and new media for many years and I am highly disappointed in the Queerty staff for the sloppy and irresponsible methods that resulted in the mis-use of Mr. Davenport’s image.
Please take the time to better educate your staff and editors in the ethics of journalism before you make such a misleading and damaging mistake again.
I understand you’re understaffed and underfunded but you’re also a go-to site for the LGBTQ community and you have a responsibility to your readership.
Dave
“The most at-risk victims of domestic violence are aged 30-39, but like many of these statistics that figure relies on reported incidents.”
Well, this sentence destroys the rest of the post. You don’t determine rates of violence or criminal acts by looking at the reports that come in to anti-violence groups. That is as ridiculous as determining STD rates in a population by looking at the people who come into a clinic. Looking at the reported domestic violence incidents may tell you something about the character and triggering events that are
common when such violence does occur. But it cannot tell you what the rates of such violence are in a large population.
So the photo was misused and the text is all wrong. In other words, a post that lives up to Queerty’s standards.
Jackson
@ouaisOut: Stop making a fool of yourself with these references to “LGBTQ community” There is no such thing. It is made up nonsense with racist origins, and and it is offensive to gay people. It is also offensive to transsexuals.
Seaguy
I think your going to need to provider a little more proof that your the guy in the image and that it was taken by someone who has not given permission for it to be used in this fashion. Just posting a comment will get you nowhere. Can you imagine if they caved to every demand that is posted in story comments. The site would be empty!
Casey
Check this link:
http://www.edgesanfrancisco.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=news&sc3=&id=109382
The picture that Queerty is using is indeed of Zachary Davenpotr and the link above states that he received his injuries as the result of a hate crime and not through domesticn violence.
For FUCK sake Queerty – to what irresponsible and dishonest levels will you not sink to?
Tackle
Come on Queerty. Due the right thing and take the picture of
Zachary Davenport down.
VagrantMan
@Jackson: I’d actually like to elaborate on your comments.
Also, this site needs to hold their authors/posters accountable for the content that’s recklessly posted. Most respectable websites have an email associated with the content poster. I can’t [email protected] very serious.
Jackson
@VagrantMan:
No problem.
“LGBTQ” was created by a handful of privileged white academics in the 1990s. These people are racist to the core, and are as cruel as any sicko from the Family Research Council.
They couldn’t give a rat’s ass about the identity of transsexuals or gay people who live in economically vulnerable positions and who are judged by their peers and their neighbors.
These people live in privileged, pure white bubbles. They felt that “gay” was getting to boring and mainstream, and that they needed the thrill and excitement of living on the margins. They couldn’t care less whether gay kids, gays in minority communities and trans people would be hurt if their neighbors, families and employers saw them as a hostile, alien “queer” force. They only care about how cutting edge and hip they would appear at the next queer studies confab.
Oppression as entertainment is the most sick and offensive
thing you can imagine. But that is what underlies insults like “LGBTQ”.
VagrantMan
@Jackson: I’m really interested in learning more. Is there a book or site I should be looking at? I have to admit I use the term LGBT, but it’s always sounded fake.
eagledancer
I’m sorry, Queerty–
The irony is–you’ve succeeded in abusing Mr.Davenport again.
Please remove his image as he has requested to show him the respect you failed to initially show.
As someone who regularly uses illustrative images in my own blogs and writings (and when I’m working professionally, I actually credit and provide the source of the image)I find a mistake of this sort to be unacceptable.
Mark
Shame on you Queerty.
Your use of Zachary Davenport’s picture is despicable.
Ash
“One in two lesbians will experience domestic violence at some point in their lives”
Well, that’s a scary statistic.
Michael
So…logically, this also must mean gay men are just as abusive as straight men in straight relationships?
Jackson
@VagrantMan: Good for you for being open minded and willing to examine the issue. That alone sets you apart from the “LGBTQ” mob, who have bullied and silenced anyone who tries to dissent. But try as they might, the discussion is out there and the resistance is growing in size and intensity. Since gay people lost ENDA – a bill they have been trying to pass in one form or another for 40 years – primarily because of the devotion to “LGBTQ” in HRC, you can bet that the opposition will become even more widespread.
I know that there is a transsexual blogger who is very devoted to this issue, since “LGBTQ” is offensive to trans people as well, since it implies that a trans woman is not really a woman but is really a kind of “queer” as well as a sort of gay guy in a dress. You can track her down through google. Also, here’s a recent article on the topic that discusses how illogical and destructive “LGBTQ” is to gay identity.
http://daily.gay.com/hot_topics/2010/10/gay-blt.html
However, the piece does not get into the racist origins of the term or the fact that it is the product of privileged hip, white “queer studies” academics, who long for us all to spend our lives as marginalized deviants.
Tommy
There’s a big difference between domestic violence in straight relationships and at least in gay male relationships. This will be politically incorrect and offensive to some, but it’s the honest truth. In the vast majority of heterosexual domestic violence it is the man committing violent acts against the woman. In many gay male incidents (but not all) both guys are hitting each other. There’s not one clear perpetrator and one victim. It’s not as black and white as male/female abuse Most men have equal physical strength whereas there’s an imbalance between women and men. We can’t address domestic violence in the gay community unless this key difference is addressed.
Adam
Wow, some of you people are totally retarded. Zachary Davenport has what appear to be hazel/brown eyes; not blue eyes. Also, Zach’s eyelid is purplish and bruised; not the lower part of his as shown in queerty’s posted picture.