Security around this year’s Dallas Gay Pride parade has been stepped up in wake of last year’s wave of attacks on the LGBT community.
To date, there have been 18 reported beatings and robberies and nearly a dozen more unreported. So far, police say no arrests have been made.
The gay pride parade and celebration in 2015 was especially jubilant for the LGBT community with the Supreme Court's ruling on marriage equality allowing same-sex marriage across the country. But later that night, a string of violent attacks began in the heart of the Oak Lawn neighborhood.
Garret Duke was one of the victims.
"I just remember waking up covered in blood,” he said.
The outrage after the attacks inspired a documentary called “Take Back Oak Lawn.” It was named after the movement that came together to help restore the confidence in the community by improving safety, encouraging vigilance and striving for safety and equality for all its citizens.
Lee Daugherty was one of seven organizers of Take Back Oak Lawn. Two of his workers at Alexandre's Bar were victims of the attacks.
"This is a community that fights back,” he explained. “This is not a community that goes away in fear."
Daugherty says despite no arrests, much has been done to combat crime and bring an ever-changing diverse community closer together in just the last 12 months.
Its been literally WILD here, my Mom says for her sake to not walk at Oak Lawn at Night. Ever since they legalized Gay marriage, crime rates went high up, my step-cousin works a evening shift in the DPD and they've been struggling to find any suspects.
This is a sad reminder that homophobia is still going strong. The media loves to portray the LGBT community as "a done deal" now that we have equality on paper, but in everyday life we are still far from equal.
Seriously, if you're worried about this at all, please contact your local activist group and see how you can help. There is so much work to do.
This is a sad reminder that homophobia is still going strong. The media loves to portray the LGBT community as "a done deal" now that we have equality on paper, but in everyday life we are still far from equal.
Oh yeah, and things are okay-ish only in the Western/Northern Europe and Northern America. The rest of the world is faaaar behind in LGBT+ rights.
