News :: GLBT
Provincetown’s Summer of Hate? :: PPD Under Fire by Sam Baltrusis
EDGE ContributorWednesday Oct 24, 2007[Editor’s Note: This article is the third in a four-part EDGE series on the recent string of hate-related incidents that have occurred in the most unlikely of places, Provincetown. Click here to begin with the first article.
On the surface, Provincetown is a gay Disneyland. Same-sex couples walk hand-in-hand up and down Commercial Street. Rainbow flags litter the main drag and accentuate the town’s pristine views and breathtaking landscapes. Businesses kindly promote and accept the patronage of thousands of out-of-town GLBT visitors.
But dig beneath the gay-friendly façade and there seems to be a systematic problem with the town’s Police Department relevant to anti-gay attacks in the popular resort destination.
"For me, P’town was all about letting loose and being myself," says Richard Hall, who was brutally attacked by a pack of 20-something men outside of Provincetown’s Spiritus Pizza in the early morning hours of Monday, Sept. 10.
Since going public with the details surrounding the gay bashing last month, Hall has made a series of attempts to reach out to Sgt. Carrie Lopes, the town’s civil rights officer, to set up a follow-up interview in an attempt to identify his perpetrators. The 56-year-old says he feels completely victimized a second time around.
"Your unwillingness to be sensitive to the victim is now the stuff of lore," he writes in an explosive response to Lopes. "I’m sitting at this computer shaking my head in disbelief that you’ve never, neither you nor anyone in your office, reached out to me personally to extend a hand of reassurance that there existed any on-going investigation."
Lopes, consistently claiming to be too busy to talk when approached by both Hall and EDGE, finally e-mailed the New Bedford resident on Wednesday, Oct. 24 with a response.
"We have two conflicting statements from you on file--the one you made on Sept. 10 and the one you e-mailed me a few weeks later," she writes. Hall claims that he was in a blackout state after being hit over the head with a blunt object, resulting in the discrepancy.
When it comes to protecting the rights of those who attack members of the GLBT community, Hall claims there’s a double standard among the PPD.
A group of GLBT visitors were reportedly pelted with stones outside of Spiritus Pizza and repeatedly called "faggot" by a 21-year-old local who was reportedly drunk on Saturday, June 30 in the neighborhood of Court and Commercial streets.
"I’m sitting at this computer shaking my head in disbelief that you’ve never, neither you nor anyone in your office, reached out to me personally to extend a hand of reassurance that there existed any on-going investigation." Witnesses tell EDGE that William Souza was walking down the street flailing his arms and yelling profanities, including anti-gay slurs. Souza, a year-round resident who police say was intoxicated, claims that he was on his way home after allegedly being assaulted earlier in the evening.
Ten minutes after they were initially dispatched, officers Kevan Spoor and Caitlin Kennedy were called to the area in front of the Boatslip Resort. According to the police report, Souza was throwing rocks at gay men and property at the scene and continued to yell derogatory slurs.
The only man willing to go on record concerning the attack, 42-year-old Daniel Coburn of East Hartford, Conn. says Souza threatened his life yelling, "I’ll kill you."
Coburn was arrested after reporting the crime. Police say the visitor had an outstanding warrant.
However, Don Gorton of the Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project believes the PPD is on the defense in regards to the handful of reported--and unreported--anti-gay related incidents.
"The tactic among some in Provincetown close to acting chief Warren Tobias appears to be defaming critics in an effort to silence concerns about the professionalism of the PPD," Gorton argues. "It’s the townie bunker mentality that resents outside agitators."
Earlier this month, the town’s civil rights officer determined that Souza’s anti-gay tirade is protected as a freedom of expression and will be classified as a "hate incident" and not a "hate crime." Lopes reports that the perpetrator is, in essence, not at fault because his words and actions were not directed at a specific individual.
In a related note, Provincetown leaders announced on Monday, Oct. 22 they plan to spend at least $26,000 to find a replacement for acting chief Sgt. Warren Tobias who assumed the leadership role when Chief Schuyler "Ted" Meyer resigned in January.
According to reports, the Provincetown police union plans to legally challenge the selectmen’s methods for choosing a new police chief, saying that town manager Sharon Lynn and two other town officials have failed to include the union in the decision.
Click here for the last article in the four-part series.
Sam Baltrusis has worked for WHDH-TV, CW56, MTV, VH1, Seventeen, Newsweek and as a regional stringer for The New York Times. He’s currently a full-time freelance editor/writer based in Boston. Check out his blog at loadedgunboston.blogspot.com.
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