Donald Paddget

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LGBTQ+ Intimate Partner Violence on the Rise Post-Pandemic: Study

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A new study from Rutgers University found a significant increase in the frequency of intimate partner violence (IPV) in same-sex relationships with a history of IPV following the recent pandemic and global shutdown.

The study entitled “Sociodemographic characteristics, depressive symptoms, and increased frequency of intimate partner violence among LGBTQ people in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic: A brief report” will appear in the April 2023 edition of the Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services but was published early online. 

The study reported over one in eleven LGBTQ+ people in a same-sex relationship suffered from IPV, and 18 percent of those folks reported incidents of IPV increased following the pandemic and lockdown. Those living in the southern U.S. or associated with more severe symptoms of depression experienced IPV at a higher frequency. The study’s authors noted the lack of research on incidents of IPV in a same-sex relationship and said their current study highlighted a need in the LGBTQ+ community.

“To date, most programs on intimate partner violence focus on opposite sex and heterosexual couples,” Perry N. Halkitis, dean of the Rutgers School of Public Health and the study’s senior study, said in a statement. “However, same-sex couples are different in terms of partner dynamics, and thus interventions need to address these differences.”

The study used an anonymous online survey of 1,090 LGBTQ+ individuals. Of those surveyed, 98 said they were victims of IPV in their current relationship, and 18 percent of those individuals reported an increase in incidents of IPV after the start of the pandemic and lockdown.

According to other recent research, members of the LGBTQ+ community experience IPV at a similar or higher frequency than those in heterosexual relationships. One study found 61.1 percent of bisexual women, 43.8 percent of lesbian women, 37.3 percent of bisexual men, and 26 percent of homosexual men experienced IPV at least once over their life, compared to 35 percent of heterosexual women and 29 percent of heterosexual men. In cases of severe violence, the numbers were even higher for those in same-sex relationships: 49.3 percent of bisexual women, 29.4 percent of lesbian women, and 16.4 percent of homosexual men compared to 23.6 percent of heterosexual women and 13.9 percent of heterosexual men. The same study also found over 50 percent of gay men and almost 75 percent of lesbians said they suffered from psychological abuse from an intimate partner. Another study found bisexual folks and bisexual women in particular were the most likely to suffer from all forms of intimate partner abuse, followed by lesbians, heterosexual women, gay men, and heterosexual men.

“Intimate partner violence interventions need to address that LGBTQ people are not monolithic in terms of many factors, including environments in which they live,” Halkitas concluded. “Now more than ever given the attacks on LGBTQ people by politicians, the work we are doing at our research center CHIBPS is as important as ever,” Halkitis said.

The study’s other authors include Christopher B. Stults, Kristen D. Krause, Richard J. Martino, Marybec Griffin, Caleb E. LoSchiavo, Savannah G. Lynn, Stephan A. Brandt, David Tana, Nicolas Hornea, Gabin Lee and Jessie Wong.

If you are experiencing domestic violence you can reach out to the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1.800.799.SAFE (7233) for help. You can also call 988 for the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

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Man Charged in Stabbing Death of Oakland Drag Queen, Chorus Singer

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Police in California announced they have arrested a university janitor in the murder of a local drag queen, barber, and member of the Oakland Gay Men’s Chorus.

Curtis Marsh, 53, was found stabbed to death in his burning Oakland apartment near Lake Merritt on Saturday, March 4. Marsh was a popular member of the Oakland Gay Men’s Chorus who also performed as a drag queen under the stage name Touri Monroe.

On Friday, Oakland Police Department (OPD) announced the arrest of Sweven Waterman, 38, and the Alameda District Attorney later charged him with Marsh’s murder. Waterman had worked as a senior custodian with the University of California Berkeley’s Housing & Dining Services since August 2022.

According to court documents, police responded to a report of smoke and a man screaming for help coming from Marsh’s apartment shortly after 8 a.m. on Saturday, March 4. The Oakland Fire Department was already on the scene and dealing with multiple fires inside the apartment when police arrived. Marsh was found nonresponsive and suffering from multiple stab wounds and trauma. He was pronounced dead at the scene by police.

“I heard screams, ‘help, help.’ I got up,” a neighbor who requested anonymity told local tv station KTVU. “My neighbor on the 4th floor was screaming and hollering that Curtis was dead. I was able to view his body. He was laying on his balcony bloodied.”

Investigators quickly identified Waterman as a suspect using surveillance video, electronic data, and witness statements. With the assistance of the University of California Police Department, officers from OPD arrested Waterman last Thursday afternoon at a UC Berkeley residence hall.

Marsh was described by friends as loving, gifted, and gracious. 

“He was very sweet, very funny,” Steven Smith, who sang with Marsh in Oakland Gay Men’s Chorus, told KTVU. “He was an accomplished musician. Beautiful, beautiful voice.”

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Police Identify 6th Victim in SF Gay Serial Killings, Raise Reward to $250k

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Police in San Francisco yesterday announced a sixth suspected victim of a notorious serial killer who sketched his gay male victims before killing them during the 1970s. Police also increased the reward for information leading to the capture and conviction of the serial killer dubbed the Doodler from $200,000 to $250,000.

“As a result of a new investigation, it is believed that Warren Andrews may be the sixth victim of the ‘Doodler,’” the San Francisco Police Department said in a statement released yesterday. “On April 27, 1975, Andrews was a victim of an assault at Land’s End. Andrews was found unconscious and never regained consciousness dying several weeks later. All six (6) victims are believed to be Gay Caucasian males.”

The Doodler is suspected of fatally stabbing at least six gay men between January 1974 and June 1975, although he may be responsible for up to 16 additional murders. The victims’ brutally stabbed bodies were found near bodies of water on Ocean Beach, in Golden Gate Park, and at Land’s End.

Police reportedly have a suspect who was interviewed at the time of the killings and may still be alive today, but need further help from witnesses to make an arrest. They acknowledge that surviving victims’ fear of being outed stopped them from testifying in the case at the time. Two of the survivors lived on the same floor of the Fox Plaza Apartments. 

The Doodler is described as a good-looking Black male, six feet tall, and aged 19 to 25 at the time of the killings. He met his victims in bars and diners in the Castro, Polk Gulch, and Tenderloin neighborhoods.

“One of the survivors from the Fox Plaza attacks had met the suspect after the bars closed in July of 1975 at the Truck Stop diner near Market/Church St.,” SFPD wrote. “The suspect was drawing animal figures on a napkin. The suspect commented to the victim that he was attending art school and was studying to be a cartoonist.”

Using information from this survivor, police were able to create a sketch of the Doodler.

“Soon after the initial suspect sketch was released, an anonymous phone call was made by a female to SFPD,” the SFPD continued. “This anonymous caller provided police with a name and a vehicle plate of a suspect. This female called twice within 10 days. We are looking to identify this caller. After this caller contacted SFPD it is believed that at least two different people also contacted SFPD providing the same suspect name. We would also want to speak with these individuals.”

The Doodler left at least three survivors, and two were described by police as a diplomat and as a well-known entertainer.

The five other suspected victims include Gerald Cavanaugh, 49, whose body was found on January 27, 1974, at Ocean Beach; Joseph Stevens, 27, whose body was found on June 25, 1974, in Golden Gate Park’ Klaus Christmann, 31, whose body was found on July 7, 1974, at Ocean Beach; Frederick Capin, 32, whose body was found on May 12, 1975, at Ocean Beach; and Harald Gullberg, 66, whose body was found on June 4, 1975, at Lincoln Park.

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Hammer-Wielding Man Attacks Gay-Owned Restaurant as Patrons Flee

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A gay-owned restaurant in Chicago had a window shattered by a hammer-wielding man in a suspected homophobic attack last night.

Witnesses and police say a man was shouting antigay slurs at a couple in the city’s Rogers Park neighborhood afternoon and followed them into the R Public House in the 1500 block of West Jarvis Avenue. The man allegedly turned violent when fellow patrons stood up to the man and told him to leave.

“He walked in, started calling them some like antigay slurs, and they were like, ‘Just leave, man, just get out of here,’” bar employee Corey Rolon told local ABC affiliate WLS-TV. “And then he took out a hammer and started bashing everything.

Queer couple Sandra Carter and Renee Labrana said they had just left the restaurant around 5:30 p.m. when the man followed the couple into the restaurant they’ve owned for a decade. They told the Chicago Sun-Times that some patrons went running for the exits when the glass exploded.

“They weren’t sure if it was gunshots,” Renee Labrana told the paper. “And knowing the horrific hate crimes that have happened in different bars, it was scary.”

Last November, five people were killed and 19 injured when a gunman opened fire in the Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colo. The suspect in that shooting has been charged with more than 300 counts ranging from murder to assault.

Carter and Labrana told the Sun-Times they created R Public House as a safe and affirming space open to all, and that the attack was a reminder not everyone shares their inclusive vision.

“It’s very frustrating and disconcerting because we live in this neighborhood because it’s so diverse, and we love that about the neighborhood,” Labrana said. “So you tend to forget that there’s people that hate you out there just for who you love. And it makes me really angry that we even have to think about it.”

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Grindr Faces Boycott After Gay CEO’s Right-Wing Tweets Are Revealed

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The right-wing political views of the new head of Grindr are causing some users to delete the popular gay dating and hookup app.

The tag #DeleteGrindr is trending after news incoming CEO George Arison, 44, previously tweeted he was a conservative who supported some of the positions of then-President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Arison, who is gay, starts his new job October 19.

“FYI I am a conservative & agree with some Trump policies,” Arison wrote in a since-deleted tweet on February 28, 2020.

“Should totally run for President,” he wrote of Youngkin in a retweet dated February 24 of this year.

Arison appeared to express support for DeSantis in another retweet from January. In the retweet, he wrote that the man who championed the “don’t say gay” law was “not ideal” but agreed the Republican governor was “better-suited to advance a new, more comabtive [sic] and populist party.”

Users on social media responded quickly, calling out the past statements from Arison.

Another user called out Arison’s support for Youngkin.

Others indicated they were ditching Grindr.

Arison came to Grindr from e-commerce marketplace Shift Technologies, where he was CEO and cofounder.

In a statement to The Advocate about the issue, Grindr centered on Arison’s identity as a gay man, husband, and father.

“George is an out gay man, proudly married to his husband and the father of two children,” a Grindr spokesperson said. “George is passionate about fighting for the rights and freedoms of LGBTQ people around the world.”

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Man Left Bloodied, Bones Fractured After Random Homophobic Attack

A gay man in Fort Lauderdale suffered multiple facial injuries after he was punched by a stranger who first asked if he was gay.

James Garcia said he was walking his dog, Delilah, outside his condominium on the morning of Sunday, April 17, when he was attacked, suffering two facial fractures and multiple wounds requiring 10 stitches to close. Police later arrested Maurice Antwan Charles, 36, in connection with the attack.

“When I close my eyes I see this attacker every day,” Garcia told WPLG. “I hear his voice. I see his face.”

Garcia said he left his condominium on A1A near 27th Street around 7:45 a.m. when he heard screaming nearby. A few moments he said the man he later identified as Charles approached him.

“Never seen the person in my life. Don’t know who he is,” Garcia said, becoming emotional. “When he approached me, [he] asked me if I was gay, and then he punched me.”

The punch was so brutal that it knocked Garcia off his feet.

“He punched me really hard. I fell to the ground bleeding,” Garcia continued. “My phone was covered in blood. I couldn’t call 911. My fingers kept slipping.”

He said one passerby ignored his plea for help while he was bleeding on the ground.

“Thankfully another person from the neighborhood stopped, called the police.”

Garcia said he suffered multiple facial fractures and two lacerations that required 10 stitches to repair.

The homophobic attack is one of several to have occurred recently. 

Pride Media’s editorial director of print, Neal Broverman, and his husband Robbie Pierce, were attacked for being gay parents on an AMTRAK train in California while traveling with their two small children. As The Advocate reported, a man aboard berated the couple’s children, called Broverman and Pierce “rapists” and accused them of “stealing Black and Asian children.” Pride Media is the parent company of The Advocate.

On April 9, Saoirse Gowan, a transgender woman, was riding the metro in Washington, D.C. when a man took out his phone and began live-streaming himself harassing Gowan.

“You’re a sick f*ck,” the unidentified man says on the video. “You’re a white man, and you’re a sick fuck. You don’t belong in this fucking metro.” Gowan documented the incident on video which she later posted to social media.

Scott McCoy, Interim Deputy Legal Director LGBTQ Rights & Special Litigation for the Southern Poverty Law Center, told The Advocate the has seen an increase in attacks directed at the community and connects the rise to the increase in legislation like Florida’s recently passed “don’t say gay” law.

“The anti-LGBTQ legislation alone this year has been potentially recording breaking, and this, coupled with the labeling of those opposed to this legislation as ‘groomers’ by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ press secretary, has really unmasked how Republican lawmakers introducing these bills really see the LGBTQ community,” McCoy told The Advocate.

Charles has a lengthy criminal record, with separate previous convictions for aggravated battery and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. It is unclear if Broward County prosecutors will add an additional hate crime charge to the current aggravated battery charge facing Charles.

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