At Georgetown University's Washington D.C. campus on Friday, some 50 students rallied in support of a female student who, while walking onto campus wearing a gay rights tee last Tuesday, faced off against two twentysomething men who shouted slurs at her before grabbing her book bag and hitting her with it. Last night, there was a crowd of 100 for another rally, this time in support of a male student who was verbally and physically assaulted by a man off-campus. So how come neither student has reported what happened to the D.C. police?
No report = no investigation. That's a pretty dismal scenario.
While Georgetown says it's offering counseling to the victims, and has issued public safety alerts (and issued public statements condemning the attacks), there will be no actual ramifications without the involvement of police.
So it's unclear why neither student has gone to the cops to file an official police report. (Both cases have been "referred" to D.C. police, but the Washington Post reports "officers are working with gay groups on campus in hopes of encouraging them to do so," according to a police spokeswoman.
We won't put ourselves in the positions of the victims (survivors?), who might both be suffering trauma from what happened, but we can imagine the frustration from campus officials and gay groups who want to see justice served — but have to sit on their hands as the clock ticks by until an investigation can even be launched.
Is there any guarantee that filing a police report will lead to a successful investigation? No. But there is a guarantee that not filing one will mean the attackers go unpunished.
(Pictured: Attendees of last night's vigil, not the victims, via)
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We've heard from friends of both victims that the victims in both cases actually *are* talking to police. This could easily be the Metropolitan Police Department just saying things to cover up their own inability to pursue a hate crime case. I was the victim of another assault in Washington DC a few months ago, and the officers on the scene laughed at us. It took days of us calling them to get them to go forward with the case. … And our attacker eventually pleaded guilty! I'd take the MPD's statements with a big old grain of salt.
Often the DC police will try to avoid filing, I know of one person who had his house robbed, the stuff from his house was found in the house of one of the theives. The kid was under age and the mother claimed she didn't know anything was in there. The police wouldn't file charges because they said it wasn't a solid enough case. I'm guessing they are not really eagar to file in this case either.
Where are these heterosexual morals I keep hearing them scream their silly breeder heads off about?
Why aren't the Mormons and Catholics and Christians speaking out to condemn this type of violence? Oh, wait… They condone it. As long as it's just the fags and dykes.
When do WE bash them BACK?
Enough is enough.
Bill, I'm a gay catholic at Georgetown. The university is the first Catholic university in the nation to establish a progressive LGBTQ Resource Center. Jesuit priests, wearing their collars, spoke out against the violence at the vigil you see above. The university president sent out an email calling the violence unacceptable… precisely because we're a Catholic university.
I get where you're coming from, but I just don't think you can say all Catholics are the same. Yes, it's part of what's causing a culture of homophobia here, but it's coming from the church hierarchy and the more elite/entitled students. DC Archbishop Wuerl is your target. Rich conservative people are also your target.