A rash of anti-gay graffiti appeared throughout Chelsea, usually on ads for gay businesses, such as this one for The LGBT
Center. The graffiti reads, ‘Gays Give Rabies.’ Call 911 or 311 to report graffiti. Photo: Yetta Kurland.
Shocking numbers to ponder on World AIDS Day
Which tactics and messages are most effective—and who gets to decide?
advertisement
advertisement
|
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
A stroll along Chelsea’s Eighth Avenue is usually easy on the eyes. Not so much in recent weeks. Hateful messages such as “Gays Give Rabies” had been scrawled with a marker across phone booth ads on most blocks in the gayborhood.
Many of the defaced ads promoted gay-related businesses, such as here! TV and The LGBT Center.
Within two weeks, the graffiti had been cleaned up and the vandalized ads had been replaced with completely new campaigns. We’re curious to see whether the crude taunts will return (they all seemed to be the same handwriting), especially now that the new ads do not promote gay subjects.
It’s easy to dismiss the incident as a prank by some misguided, angry youth. Maybe we want to dismiss such graffiti because it’s more effective than we’d like to acknowledge.
Yetta Kurland doesn’t take it lightly. The openly gay civil rights lawyer (and 2009 City Council contender) lives in Chelsea. The graffiti confronted her each day—one was right outside her door.
“It cuts to the bone,” she told The Blade. “When you see something like ‘Gays Give Rabies,’ it resonates on a profound level. You do reflect about it. It speaks to the idea that you are bad or wrong or criminal or diseased for being simply who you are. It’s antithetical to that community; whether gay or straight, the majority of people in that neighborhood celebrate gay people.”
Kurland began taking photos of the graffiti and is looking into whether any surveillance cameras caught the offender in the act. The city does a good job of cleaning up such graffiti, she says, but the City Council and community board could do more to send a message via public service announcements that hatred is not tolerated. “When we as a government show intolerance for hatred,” she says, “it sets a tone that the community responds to.”
We agree.
And in case you see anti-gay graffiti, there is something you can do: Report it.
The New York Police Department defines hate graffiti as “the making of any offensive slogans, or symbols towards a person’s race, color, religion, ethnicity, culture or sexual orientation.” It’s punishable by jail, monetary fine and/or community service.
The police department has a City-Wide Vandals task force and offers up to $500 rewards for reporting graffiti vandalism in progress through calling 911.
You can also call 311 to provide information on graffiti vandalism. The direct number for the City-Wide Vandals Task Force is 718-714-3116.
And as always, we want to remind you that if you’re the victim of any hate crime, call the New York City Gay & Lesbian Anti-Violence Project’s 24-hour bilingual hotline at 212-714-1141.
|
