ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, March 13, 1996 TAG: 9603130052
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
Crimes against homosexuals in Virginia apparently were fewer but more severe in 1995, a gay-rights group said Tuesday.
Virginians for Justice said it documented 18 anti-gay incidents last year, a 40 percent decrease from the 30 cases recorded in 1994. The group estimates 80 percent of such incidents go unreported.
``You would think that would be good news, but the severity of the crimes has increased quite dramatically,'' said Shirley Lesser, manager of the organization.
She said 28 offenses were committed in the 18 incidents - a ratio of 1.60 offenses per incident, up from 1.35 the previous year. Lesser said attacks are becoming ``very violent, very bloody.''
For example, she said, three young males beat a man to death with a 62-pound cinder block in Norfolk. They also slashed his throat and burned his face with a cigarette lighter. Virginians for Justice counts the murder as an anti-gay ``hate crime'' because the attackers called the victim a homosexual.
``No matter what you feel about gays and lesbians, you cannot want to live in a society where this sort of thing is tolerated,'' said Campbell Spencer, a lobbyist for the organization.
LENGTH: Short : 35 lines KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB