Gay crimes on the rise

Interesting news on crimes against gays back in the Netherlands.

In the past two years I have reported on an increasing intolerance towards gays or those suspected of being gay. Some of these crimes take place even in the pink-districts of cities like the self-proclaimed Gay Capital of the World, Amsterdam. This is not helped by the Christian-right government, which at one point (wrongly!) said it was safe to deport gay Iranian asylum seekers back to their own country.

In the past two days, two reports have "come out" that try to pinipoint the cause of gay-related crimes, but arrive at contrary conlcusions.

The first is a research conducted by the University of Amsterdam (called "If only they will keep off of me, "Als ze maar van me afblijven"), focusing on the city of Amsterdam. Basically, the report concludes that the overwhelming majority of crimes against gays are committed by 'allochtones', or people from an ethnic minority background, and of this minority, the Morrocans are a majority. This more or less confirms what's generally the perception of the average Dutchperson, especailly since its often regurgitated by (rightwing)politicians and the media: that crimes against gays are committed by minorities (in the Netherlands, Moroccans tend to be the scapegoats, for this and everything else that's wrong with the country).

The report concluded that perpetrators are 36% whites, and 64% people of colour (36% Morrocans). Contrary to popular belief that ethnic minorities go gay-bashing because of cultural or religious motivations, the report concluded that more often than not gaybashers feel a conflict/threat to their “masculinity”, and a “good” way to express “manhood” is to beat up a gay. Part of the reason for the increase in crimes towards gays, according to the researchers, is poor education in school about issues such as homosexuality and coming out. Most surprising of all, gays are forced to “adapt” their behaviour and lifestyles in violence against homosexuals because they are afraid of being subject to violence.

Part of this report is worth quoting at length (translation mine):

"

“2001 was the highpoint for homo(sexual)-emancipation: with the opening of marriage for couples of the same sex, [with] an imam who, due to his anti-gay pronouncements, will be referred to the police by almost all politicians, and an openly homosexual politician (Pim Fortuyn) who gained many votes, also among groups with anti-homosexual perspectives. No wonder the generally shared opinion was that homo(sexual) emancipation was complete. Unfortunately, it appeared that legal [equalisation] did not imply social equalisation, and the hetero-normativity did not disappear with the introduction of homosexual marriage.

Many gays and lesbians say that they have the feeling that it is becoming unsafe for them […] All sorts of institutions play a role in the marginalisaiton of homosexuality. To be clear, from politics and the media there are many calls of support for homo(sexual)-emancipation. The condemnation of discrimination of and violence towards gays and lesbians is loud and clear. Those pronouncements sometimes have a highly rhetorical calibre as well. Instiuteions do not always do what they promise. […]

It is clear that there has in recent times much attention for tolerance of homosexuals. […] these are important gestures, but they appear not to reach the perpetrators of anti-homo(sexual) violence. Hetero-norms and gender-dogmas are so deeply ingrained that such initiatives are inadequate to effectively tackle the source of anti-homo(sexual) violence."

The second report was releashed by the Dutch Ministry of Internal and Royal Affairs, and was compiled based on police records of gay-related crimes throughout the country. The government report on violence towards gays in the first half of 2008 (released on 17 November), attributes a shocking 86% of perpetrators are “autochtone” (or native white people), compared to 14% non-whites. A third of violence towards gays is verbal/written (internet), while 28% is physical, and around a quarter is in the form of threats or intimidation. An overwhelming 89% of victims are males, 3% females and 1% transsexuals (the remaining just people who happen to be at the wrong place). Interestingly, most of the perpetrators commit violence acts against gays in groups (46%) and 39% are men working alone. Only in big cities, like Amsterdam, are the gay-related crimes committeed by a higher proportion of ethnic minority groups.