Three weeks into a tragic story about the hate murder of a 15-year-old African American lesbian murdered in a hate attack on the streets of Newark––a crime that has galvanized LGBT youth there, but received scant attention in the mainstream press here in New York or nationwide––at least one contender for the Democratic presidential nomination has jumped in to express his outrage and offer his aid.

Dr. Howard Dean, the former Vermont governor, in an exclusive interview with Gay City News, said that the crime, viewed against the backdrop of the failure to adopt a federal hate crimes statute, is one more reason why the nation should look for new leadership.

“This is an example of why we need a new president,” Dean said in a telephone interview on June 4. “One of the really disappointing things is that as governor of Texas, President Bush refused to sign a hate crimes law which included protections based on sexual orientation. He doesn’t seem to understand either compassion or equal protection.”

During his second term in the State House in Austin, Bush was widely viewed as playing the decisive, though behind the scenes, roll in killing a comprehensive hate crimes law pending before the state legislature. The initiative gained steam as the result of the 1998 murder of James Byrd, Jr., an African American man in rural Texas whose body was dragged at the end of a chain connected to a moving truck.

Dean’s comments came after several weeks in which Newark young people, particularly African American lesbians, turned out in large numbers at vigils and at the funeral for Sakia Gunn, who was attacked while she waited for a bus in the early morning hours on May 11. Gunn and her friends had returned from an evening hanging out at the Christopher Street pier in the West Village, and when two older men in a car hit on them, they rebuffed the advance, telling the men they were lesbians. A fight ensued, and Gunn was fatally stabbed in the heart.

Family and friends of Gunn and local LGBT advocates faulted the police for failing to have an officer posted at a booth positioned near the bus stop and also the public schools for their failure to provide counselors to their many grieving students. On June 3, a crowd of more than 100 braved heavy rains to rally outside City Hall, protesting Mayor Sharpe James’s failure to date to follow through on his commitment, made at Gunn’s funeral, to fund a community center for LGBT youth in Newark.

After Dean offered his critique of Bush, he was asked whether he was willing to put pressure on James, a fellow Democrat.

“You give me a phone number, and I’ll call him this afternoon,” Dean replied instantly.

Less than an hour later, Gay City News received a call from Ethan Geto, Dean’s New York State campaign director. According to Geto, Dean reached James and the two had a “lengthy conversation.”

Geto said that Dean told James that he “heard that there was a level of concern that the matter is not being handled and hoped he would take action on the matter.” Geto was told by Dean that James replied that he is going to focus on the issue.

The Newark Pride Alliance, a group which formed in the wake of the Sakia Gunn murder, plans to meet on Friday, June 6 and the group’s next moves with regard to Mayor James will be on the agenda.

Close Window to Return to TBC Web Site