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Creating Change
Participants Protest Police Work on Oakland Attack
by Donald R. Eggert
OAKLAND – Almost 2,000 GLBT demonstrators marched through downtown Oakland streets to police headquarters on November 12 to demand justice and protest prejudicial handling of an assault on a transgender youth of color.
March organizers demanded that the Oakland city police chief order a full hate crime investigation, properly reprimand the officer in charge of the investigation, arrange transgender sensitivity training for his entire department and establish a permanent position for monitoring hate crimes.
The march was sparked by an action alert circulated during late-afternoon sessions of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force's Creating Change conference. The bulletin described police mishandling of that morning's incident, which saw the youth severely cut with a broken beer bottle during an argument.
When the assault was reported to Oakland authorities, the dispatcher remarked, "We spend enough time and money on you fags already." At the crime scene, officers refused to take statements from witnesses at the crime, claiming that "it would be too much paperwork [to do an investigation]."
Although the assault victim was not attending the conference, the Oakland host committee felt that the poor handling of the attack warranted a response from the gathered activists.
At 6pm, marchers assembled in the lobby of the Marriot City Center Hotel to march in solidarity with Oakland natives. Because there was no time to obtain official march permits, the crowd was instructed to follow normal pedestrian rules, making sure to stay on sidewalk and not restrict the flow of traffic. Several protestors carried makeshift signs that read "Transgender Rights are Human Rights" and "Protect and Serve?"
At Oakland Police Headquarters, several transgender speakers from Oakland and around the country rallied the crowd with chants such as "We're human beings, we're not paperwork!"
Riki Anne Wilchins, executive director of GenderPAC, the national lobbying organization working to protect gender rights, spoke out against the inhumane treatment of the assault victim and the underreporting of hate crimes nationwide.
After several speeches, the Oakland police chief told the crowd he would comply with demands for investigation, reprimand, and sensitivity training. He remarked, "Everyone deserves to be treated with respect regardless of their gender or race."
The case is now being investigated by Oakland authorities.