Last month’s attack suffered by Chris Cochrane, a transgendered woman who performs as Elle Noir, has people wondering about the safety of members in the Halifax LGBTQ community.
Cochrane was shot in the arm by a man who claimed to be a police officer. Several shots were fired through her apartment door while her roommate called 911.
The shooting was not classified as a hate crime, and some in the LGBTQ community have criticized police response to it. Cochrane declined to be interviewed.
Kevin Kindred, spokesperson for the Nova Scotia Rainbow Action Project, says that many people who are victims of crimes, in the community, decide not to report to Halifax Regional Police in fear of being re-victimized.
“I actually find that Halifax is a pretty open and welcoming place for members for of LGBT community, but we know that all cities face problems with homophobia and problems with violence,” he says. “I encourage people to be as ‘out’ as they are comfortable being and I don’t like the idea of having to be reserved out of fear of how society would react. However, people are conscious of the risks of homophobic and transphobic violence and sometimes conduct themselves accordingly.”
Last March, Dylan LaVigne and his partner Andrew were attacked on the way to a bar while walking hand-in-hand. Five men asked them for rolling papers and decided to pounce when LaVigne yelled back “No” after multiple demands. One man “yells ‘Fucking faggots!’ and punches Andrew square in the jaw and knocks him over,” he says.
LaVigne was also struck by one of the men and was kicked in the ribs once hitting the ground. His partner called 911, something that doesn’t always happen, according to constable Debbie Carleton, the liaison officer with the LGBTQ community.
“The majority of cases where the LGBTQ community is targeted, we find that they either don’t come forward to report the crime, or when they do come forward, it’s very seldom that they will say that it’s from their sexual orientation,” she says.
Carleton says that Halifax Regional Police don’t know if the community needs more support and advises people to come forward and help the police department determine what kind of relief is needed for LGBTQ groups. “As of this date, it’s an underreported community and until we receive more calls, we can’t give them the help that they need,” she says.
LaVigne, on the other hand, says the attack has changed the way he and his friends act in public.
“If we tried [holding hands] on Spring Garden Road, we’d be called faggots at least five times before we reached the Public Gardens,” he says. “Believe me, I’ve done it. It’s not pretty.”
Carleton urges victims of crime against their sexuality to contact her at 490-5016.
Related Stories
Elle Noir AKA Chris Cochrane is unapologetically herself
This article appears in Jul 21-27, 2011.
I appreciate ” The Coast” coverage of all things Pride, however I am a little dismayed of have a side article regarding LBGT Hate Crimes mixed in with happy articles regarding Pride Week. I understand that as a community, we have to be realistic–and even in 2011 be aware of our surroundings and potential danger. However, considering where we are if we look at it regionally…generally we are lucky in Halifax. Halifax is a moderately liberal city on the social front and from my experience mainly accepting of the LBGT community. I feel that while yes hate crimes against our community do still occur here and in even larger centers. However, if these occur it is not time to be fearful and drive our community back into the closet. The reason these individuals are violent towards our community is due to several factors:
1) Ignorance/lack of knowledge
2) Peer Pressure and
3) Lack of visual presence of gay couples in public.
We as out members of our community, need to be mentors for both the straight community, and the closeted LBGT community….both of these aforementioned groups need to see daily public examples of showing them its ok to be gay. I am not suggesting we stage orgies in the public gardens….but I am suggesting if you are gay/bi/lesbian/trans or even straight and you have a boyfriend or girlfriend…hold their hand in public . If you are going on a date, hold your dates hand… don’t be afraid to give them a public appropriate kiss hello or good bye.
In the end, what this world needs is more public displays of love and kindness regardless of your sexual orientation. Being open and visible is how we will garner even more positive support for the LBGT community of Halifax. It’s a personal choice, but I live in Dartmouth and my boyfriend and I hold hands anywhere we go in public–and have not had any issues. Be smart about personal safety, but let’s not live in fear nor be afraid to be ourselves in our own city.—and remember Pride is 52 weeks of the year not just one week…show your pride all year not just this weekend Halifax!
I’m still confused why the police won’t investigate the shooting as a hate crime. They’re treating it like some little prank while some person was shot in an attempted execution. Then again, what can you expect from this impotent and lazy police force?
The police do not treat it as a hate crime because the police are sociopathic fecks who are the most classist, mysogynistic, homophobics and racist scumbags in our city…to call it a hate crime means they would have to own it themselves when they look in the mirror….
Having just met Kevin K on the Peter Kelly rally and realized not only is he self important, he lacks backbone so if I do not take him seriously why should others?
The police cannot charge someone with a hate crime without evidence to back it up. Given that the area where the shooting took place often has incidents of robbery, assault, break and enter, shootings, etc…..classifiying it as a hate crime would be very difficult to prove in Court, thus why it was a random incident. On the other hand, if anyone in that household was involved in criminal activities (i.e. drugs, etc), the report would indicate so.