Transcripts

PATTI ABBOTT: In a lot of ways, it was a very pivotal experience for me personally as well as professionally. I think it was a turning point for our community too.

CHRIS ROBERTS: That's Patti Abbott reflecting back on the bizarre series of events which led to the arrest of a man who had visions of becoming a notorious gay serial murderer in the Twin Cities. Abbott is the crime Victims, advocate for the Gay and Lesbian Community Action Council in Minneapolis. After a mysterious letter claiming responsibility for the 1991 murders of Joel Larson and John Chenoweth was sent to the gay media, Abbott's office received two calls from a man who was angry the letter wasn't being taken seriously.

Abbott alerted police who were able to trace both calls to the home of 22-year-old Jay Johnson. Johnson later pleaded guilty to the murders. Abbott says cooperation between her agency and Minneapolis Police on the Johnson arrest transformed their relationship and raised the visibility of her program.

PATTI ABBOTT: Not only am I able to sit down and talk to the chief, which in and of itself gets us nowhere, but I'm also able to converse with members of my community who have been victimized by crime, get information from them that they would just never tell anyone else, and figure out ways to help them get their needs met in terms of getting police reports documented and having cases successfully prosecuted. And that's, to me, more important than having a good relationship with the police department.

CHRIS ROBERTS: While individual interactions between police and the gay community haven't improved, Abbott says the entire department will undergo gay sensitivity training in 1993. And there's also talk of creating a gay liaison position. Anti-gay hate crimes have again risen in 1992, but Abbott says the rate of increase won't be nearly so great as the 202% upsurge recorded in 1991. Observers say, locally and nationwide, 1992 will be remembered as the year gays and lesbians moved into the political mainstream like never before. The Human Rights Campaign Fund, a national gay rights lobby group, gave more than $1 million to candidates. Minneapolis gay activist Ken Darling says the country elected a president who has put gay rights on the national agenda for the first time.

KEN DARLING: And that's through his commitment that he's reiterated since being elected of ending the blatant and open discrimination of gays and lesbians in the military. And he stuck with that promise and it's going to happen and it's going to happen because Bill Clinton was elected president. It would not happen if George Bush would have won that election. And that event alone, just the fact that it's on the national agenda, makes 1992 a watershed year.

CHRIS ROBERTS: Darling says gays and lesbians who've historically had a liberal voting record will also be instrumental in deciding the outcome of the mayoral race in Minneapolis. Mayoral candidate and city council president Sharon Sayles Belton agrees that the gay and lesbian community became more politically organized in 1992.

SHARON SAYLES BELTON (ON PHONE): There was a very active group of gay and lesbians for Clinton and Gore that were very successful in raising money and in getting their community to get out and vote. And as well, there is a strong DFL gay and lesbian caucus that operates here in Minneapolis and in the state of Minnesota. So I think all of us who are involved in politics understand that they are organized and are prepared to be involved.

CHRIS ROBERTS: This heightened political involvement bodes well for the effort to give gays and lesbians statewide human rights protection, according to Minneapolis DFL Representative Karen Clark. Clark acknowledges that bills have been introduced three times before in the legislature and have failed. But she says, this time, lawmakers will consider the issue with the experience of having passed hate crimes legislation. In addition, Clark says, executive orders have been issued prohibiting anti-gay discrimination in state employment.

KAREN CLARK: Legislators have been exposed to the fact that passing that legislation, putting those executive orders into effect, the state hasn't fallen apart, and people have actually benefited and been protected by that law.

CHRIS ROBERTS: Clark admits that passing a statewide human rights amendment will be an uphill battle. She thinks the votes are there in the Senate, but she estimates that two dozen lawmakers in the House still haven't made up their minds. Conservative groups have made important gains in rolling back gay rights in states like Colorado. And their presence will be felt in Minnesota.

[? MICHAEL CHISHOLM: ?] It is a lifestyle that promotes disease, hepatitis. It promotes the HIV virus.

CHRIS ROBERTS: Michael [? Chisholm ?] speaks for the Traditional Values Coalition, a national organization which argues that special protection shouldn't be provided for people who choose homosexuality as a lifestyle. The group plans a heavy lobbying effort when the legislative session begins next year. Karen Clark says, in the past, lawmakers have told her they couldn't vote for a human rights amendment because it would hurt them and their districts. Now, she says with a political clout the gay community is demonstrating, politicians are beginning to realize there may be fallout if they don't support it.

KAREN CLARK: Not to support something that is such a matter of justice certainly creates some political danger in that people may find that their constituents just won't stand for that lack of courage anymore.

CHRIS ROBERTS: Leaders also cite the creation of a new gay-lesbian youth center in Minneapolis as a groundbreaking event in 1992, as well as a favorable ruling by the city's civil rights commission on domestic partner benefits for three city librarians. That ruling has been challenged by the city. Despite setbacks, leaders agree that the movement for civil rights, political viability and overall social acceptance for gays and lesbians made important strides this year. They say continued progress, as always, will depend largely on the number of people who feel comfortable enough to bring their sexual identity out of the closet. This is Chris Roberts, Minnesota Public Radio.