The Human Rights Campaign recently expressed sympathy for a
Montana family whose house was burned down on the night of February 7th in what appears to be
retribution for taking part in an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit
filed earlier in the week. Partners Adrianne Neff, Carla Grayson and their
infant son narrowly escaped the blaze through a window, but their house was
gutted in what fire officials believe may be arson. Federal officials have
become involved in the investigation, which is being handled as a triple
attempted homicide.
"Our hearts go out to this brave family who were nearly killed
because they courageously decided to fight for equal treatment and
fairness," said HRC National Field Director Seth Kilbourn. "We applaud the
authorities for moving quickly to fully investigate this apparent hate
crime. We hope law enforcement will arrest and prosecute these criminals to
the fullest extent of the law and send a strong message that these terrorist
tactics have no place in America."
On the Monday before, Neff and Grayson – along with other plaintiffs and PRIDE, Inc., a
Montana group representing gays and lesbians – filed a lawsuit in Federal
District Court in Helena seeking health benefits for gay partners of
University of Montana employees, where Grayson is a professor. The
defendants in the case are the university system, the state, the
commissioner of higher education and the Board of Regents.
The lawsuit gained local media attention and those publicly named in the
suit received death threats in the mail that read "die dyke", according to
the ACLU.
A special fund has been established to assist the couples with
costs associated with the fire and subsequent security measure. Checks can
be made payable to "Relief Fund" and send to P.O. Box 775, Helena, MT 59624.
"HRC will continue to closely monitor this case and is committed to
working with local activists to make sure justice prevails," said Kilbourn.
"Our community will not be harassed or intimidated into silence."
The FBI Uniform Crime Reports for 2000 – the latest year for which
statistics are available -showed that as overall serious crime decreased
slightly nationally, with the Crime Index at its lowest level since 1978,
reported hate crimes have continued to rise and increased 2.3 percent from
1999 to 2000.
Reported hate crimes based on sexual orientation have more than tripled
since the FBI began collecting statistics in 1991, and comprise 16.3 percent
of all hate crimes for 2000 at 1,330. Hate crimes based on sexual
orientation continue to make up the third highest category after race and
religion, which make up 53.6 and 18.2 percent, respectively of the total,
8,152.
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