Washington DC: GLOV Demands Mayor Act On Gay Killing
Chris Farris, co-chair of GLOV, submits this post regarding the local gay man who was killed this week.
Late Monday night/early Tuesday morning, Durval Martins was shot to death as he walked home from a night out on 17th Street. He was shot at 11th and Q, a large, well-lit, very heavily-traveled intersection near Logan Circle.
Durval was openly gay. While it is not clear whether his sexual orientation was a direct factor in his murder, it is important to note that nothing was stolen from him (his wallet with cash was found in his hand, and jewelry and a cell phone were on his person) and that he was shot multiple times, indicating to me at least that this was hardly a robbery with an accidental trigger-pull. Others may disagree, but one thing is clear: no one at this point can say for sure what the motive was.
GLOV (Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence) re-formed soon after the Adams Morgan attack on Todd Metrokin that was first detailed with disturbing pictures on TNG. Right after its reformation, Tony Hunter was murdered at 8th and N as he walked to BeBar with a friend. There have been at least 13 other attacks on GLBT community members in DC since GLOV started trying to track them in late July/early August.
GLOV has been successful at having meetings and developing relationships with the Metropolitan Police Department, the United States Attorney’s Office, the Anti-Defamation League, the Human Rights Campaign, and the DC City Council – in fact, under the leadership of Phil Mendelson and at the urging of Council Chair Vincent Gray, the DC City Council held an outstanding hearing on Hate Crimes just this past Friday.
Unfortunately, our Mayor has been silent. He has not spoken out on this issue, and our requests for a meeting with him have been consistently and repeatedly refused – the message we have been given by officials within his Office are that there is no increase in hate crimes, the streets are safe, and a meeting would not be productive — their words, not mine.
Yesterday, Todd Metrokin and I, in our capacity as Co-Chairs of GLOV, e-mailed the Mayor directly so that we can be positive he is getting our messages for a meeting. I am particularly disappointed because I so passionately supported his candidacy as someone who would bring real attention to the needs of all of this great city, including the GLBT community.
If you are disturbed as much as I am, please take the time to ask the Mayor to meet with us so that we can be assured that he acknowledges there is a problem and is committed to mobilizing all of the city’s resources to address it and make it once again safe for our community.
Here is a copy of the letter we sent. You can email the Mayor at adrian.fenty@dc.gov
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Mr. Mayor:
Over the past several months, members of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) community have become increasingly concerned with violent crime that seems to be targeting our community. Just yesterday, a man named Duval Martins was shot to death on his way home from visiting gay bars on the popular 17th Street strip.
GLOV (Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence) has requested on numerous occasions through your office to meet with you, but we have been repeatedly informed that you are not interested in a meeting at this time. We write to ask that you reconsider. The community is nervous and on edge, as violence around us continues to increase. We have met with the Police, the United States Attorney’s Office, community organizations, and members of the City Council (the City Council even had a Hearing on Hate Crimes last Friday), but we have not heard from our Mayor. This is not acceptable. We need to meet with you to present our concerns personally, to hear that you understand the issues, to learn what your plans are to address them, and to see how we can all – city agencies, the police, the prosecutors, community
organizations, and business leaders – can work together to end the hate-filled violence that is plaguing our community.
We would like to ask again that you convene an urgent meeting to address these issues, and that you include the Chief of Police, someone from the US Attorney’s Office, representatives of the City Council, and other city and community leaders who are focused on this issue. We need your leadership at this time, and we need to know that you are listening.
Sincerely,
Chris Farris
Todd Metrokin
Co-Chairs
GLOV
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What amazes me about this murder, is the little amount of coverage that I have seen on this. Other than the Blade, I saw very little coverage of this. The Washington Post had it listed as a “also murdered” item in another article. On some of the blog posting, I have seen multiple people say that he should have taken a cab. This story should have nothing to do with taking a cab or not. A man got killed walking down the street. Thank you for calling attention to it on your blog.
What amazes me about this murder, is the little amount of coverage that I have seen on this. Other than the Blade, I saw very little coverage of this. The Washington Post had it listed as a “also murdered” item in another article. On some of the blog posting, I have seen multiple people say that he should have taken a cab. This story should have nothing to do with taking a cab or not. A man got killed walking down the street. Thank you for calling attention to it on your blog.
the blade should be ashamed for not monitoring comments left by readers, which has led to the brother of the victim being subjected to a debate of whether or not the guy deserved being killed. he doesnt need that right now. other coverage has been on:
FOX 5:
http://www.myfoxdc.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=8104057&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1
METROWEEKLY:
http://www.metroweekly.com/gauge/?ak=3965
i put the mayor in the same shame boat as the blade. WHERE THE FUCK IS HE??
How about the gay and lesbian liaison? Has he been helpful?
I’m sending a note to the Mayor right now. Folks who do so should also copy GLOV, so you know. What’s an e-mail address for GLOV?
You can email Chris directly: chris@glovdc.org
Comrades,
Sadly, this is to be expected from Fenty. He has raised the ire of labor and community groups for violations of worker rights, shutting down shelters and many other problems in DC. It is unfortunate that someone who ran as a progressive has shown almost no interest in engaging in discussion and working constructively with community members on a range of serious issues facing DC.
We need to join together with other groups targeting Fenty to develop a comprehensive response to his policies that address a strong and broad agenda for social and economic justice in DC. I recommend checking out DC Jobs With Justice for more criticism of Fenty on other issues: http://www.dcjwj.org. They are also having a vote for a local Grinch of the year, so feel free to vote for Fenty and bring up his lack of concern for the queer community in DC: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=_2fWfXvJX6EGfRMmCH6MbqqQ_3d_3d
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