The New York City Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project announced this eek that reports to them of domestic violence in LGBT relationships increased 16 percent in 2003 and 21 percent in 2004.No, our society does not condone LGBT violence. Our society does not approve of same-sex marriage, but that has also been true of every society in recorded history, except for a few areas in the last couple of years.
"We've seen a steady rise in reports of domestic violence and the level of violence involved over the last two years," said Clarence Patton, acting director of AVP. "In 2004 alone, there was a 35 percent increase in serious injuries and a 71 percent increase in deaths or murders that occurred as a result of the violence." ...
Asked to identify some factors that have contributed to that increase, Dolan-Soto said, "We're living in a society that is in the middle of a war, that condones violence against LGBT folks, and is even willing to codify in the constitution that gays don't have legal rights. And for some gay people that equates to increased stress and pressure on LGBT people and couples and internalized homophobia. The partner that can?t control his or her anger is turning that on the other partner." ...
"When I started at AVP in 1996," Patton said, "there was one bed for a man, only available when a woman wasn't there. Just the very way in which we talk about what domestic violence is in our community can fly in the face of the historic paradigm that the anti-domestic violence movement is built on. It comes out of women's rights movement that women are victims and men are batterers. We say that is not always the case. When you're trying to move brick and mortar operations like shelter space, which is already limited, you have to look at building a bigger pie."
I am glad to see someone challenging the feminist notion that women are victims and men are batterers.
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