Over 300 members of the lesbian,
gay, bisexual and trans community, along with their supporters, rallied in
front of the 77th precinct in
for two lesbians of color who were brutally beaten and arrested by the police
on May 17. The 77th Precinct, particularly notorious for police brutality, is
also responsible for the June 2007 beatings and arrests of human right
attorneys Michael Tarif Warren and Evelyn Warren, who are African American.
The police
assault took place outside a local nightclub, where Jeannette JG Grey, 31,
and Tiffany Jimenez, 19, were attending a party for lesbians. The cops, all
men, hurled the vilest of anti-LGBT and sexist slurs as they beat the two
women. JG, a Black lesbian, told protesters how several cops beat her with
nightsticks as she lay on the pavement.
Jimenez, a
her family, read the following statement at the rally: All of a sudden the
cops are pushing me. Next I was on the floor. I had on no shoes and they threw
me on my back. Im screaming and crying. I was in a dress and they rolled me
over and my butt was exposed. One cop put his knee on my leg and back, and he
was at least 200 pounds, maybe more, and Im small. Both women live in
Speakers at
the rally, organized by the Safe Outside the System Collective, an affiliate of
the Audre Lorde Project, and
Globe,
the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender project of Make the Road New Yorkincluded New York City
Councilperson Leticia James, community activist Kevin Powell, and longtime
anti-police brutality activist and attorney for the two women Andrea Ritchie.
A spirited
march followed the rally, with protesters chanting, Stop homophobia! Jail the
guilty cops! The protest closed with a militant poem by Yvonne Fly
OnakemeEtaghene, which included the lines, I want to be safe to hold my
womans hand in the streets at midnight/I want to not have to wait until June
to celebrate my pride.
Community
groups called for a list of demands, including firing the cops involved in the
beatings and dropping all charges against the women. The women are scheduled to
be in court later in June. To find out ways to support these women see www.alp.org
or www.maketheroad.org.