|
The
television
news
crews
are
long
gone
from
the
2800
block
of
NW
7th
Avenue
in
Wilton
Manors,
and
most
traces
of
the
anti-gay
epithets
that
were
sprayed
in
black
paint
on
houses
and
cars
there
are
washed
away
or
painted
over.
But
one
week
after
vandals
tagged
three
homes
in
this
quiet
corner
of
Broward
County’s
gay-friendly
suburb
by
spraying
the
words
“Gay”,
“Faggot”,
and
“Fag,”
unsettling
questions
remain.
Should
Broward’s
gay
community
be
concerned
about
growing
intolerance,
or
is
it
appropriate
to
dismiss
the
incident
as
a
meaningless
act
of
delinquency?
Many
in
the
community,
including
some
of
the
residents
of
7th
Avenue,
tend
to
view
the
spray
painting
of
the
homes
as
an
isolated
act
of
juvenile
mischief.
For
others
the
seemingly
random
act
is
not
so
innocuous,
echoing
other
symbols
meant
to
intimidate,
like
burning
crosses
and
swastikas.
Friday’s
incident
is
the
latest
in
a
long
string
of
complaints
by
the
GLBT
community
of
people
driving
down
Wilton
Drive
shouting
“faggot”
or
throwing
eggs,
hate-fueled
late
night
muggings,
Fort
Lauderdale
Mayor
Jim
Naugle’s
mean-spirited
remarks
about
the
gay
men
cruising,
and
the
recent
ruling
by
a
Broward
County
Judge
that
a
sex
sting
operation
at
Holiday
Park
was
actually
police
entrapment
of
a
gay
man.
Neighbors
on
NW
7th
Avenue
were
woken
early
morning
July
18
to
Wilton
Manors
Police
notifying
the
residents
that
their
house
had
been
vandalized.
The
vandals
used
cans
of
black
spray
paint
to
mark
the
fronts
of
three
homes
and
four
vehicles.
One
of
the
vandalized
homes
is
occupied
by
a
straight
couple.
“It’s
getting
crazy
now,”
said
Ron
Helfrich
whose
home
was
sprayed
with
the
word
“GAY”
on
the
front
entranceway.
“Now
you’ve
got
to
start
looking
out
all
the
time.”
Helfrich
and
his
partner
Larry
Johnson
moved
to
their
home
in
2005
from
Washington,
D.C.
Like
many
gay
couples,
the
couple
settled
in
Wilton
Manors
because
they
feel
it’s
a
safe,
friendly
neighborhood
where
they
can
live
openly
without
hassles.
According
to
the
US
Census
about
40
percent
of
Wilton
Manors
residents
live
in
same-sex
households,
but
the
town
is
full
of
alcoves
like
NW
7th
Avenue
where
most
of
the
neighbors
are
gay.
Before
Friday,
the
only
problem
Helfrich
and
Johnson
experienced
was
when
their
holiday
lights
were
stolen
during
Christmas
last
year.
Helfrich
said
Friday’s
spray
painting
incident
was
not
enough
to
make
him
feel
threatened.
Helfrich
suspects
that
the
people
who
spray
painted
his
home
early
Friday
morning
were
most
likely
young
kids
who
cut
through
his
street
to
get
to
nearby
Mikel
Fields
park.
“We
know
Wilton
Manors
is
gay
friendly,
but
then
you
get
these
crazy
incidents,”
Helfrich
said.
“You
don’t
know
whether
to
buy
mace
or
a
taser.”
Helfrich
decided
to
use
humor
as
his
weapon.
He
took
his
own
can
of
black
spray
paint
Friday
and
embellished
the
vandals’
work.
Where
the
taggers
left
the
word
Gay
on
his
wall,
Helfrich
added
letters
for
it
to
read
“I
LOVE
GAYS.”
Wilton
Manors
police
are
investigating
the
incident
as
a
hate
crime,
said
Det.
David
Jones,
the
department’s
spokesman.
However,
he
said
there
is
no
evidence
or
witnesses
that
could
lead
to
an
arrest.
“There’s
nothing
to
look
in
to,”
Jones
said.
“It’s
a
complete
random
thing.”
However,
after
so
many
incidents
in
the
past
year
of
crimes
on
the
gay
community,
residents
question
whether
or
not
these
are
random
occurrences.
According
to
annual
hate
crimes
statistics
compiled
by
the
state
attorney
general’s
office
for
2006,
Broward
police
agencies
reported
50
hate
crimes,
the
most
reported
in
any
county
in
Florida.
Of
those
only
three
incidents
involved
vandalism
or
destruction
of
property;
the
rest
aggravated
assault,
simple
assault,
and
intimidation.
Wilton
Manors
resident
Bruce
Wheeler,
an
administrator
at
a
law
firm
said
he
and
his
neighbors
were
surprised
to
hear
about
the
anti-gay
graffiti
in
their
gay
alcove.
“We
weren’t
really
alarmed,
but
there’s
more
of
an
awareness
that
we’re
looking
out
more,”
Wheeler
said
while
having
coffee
at
Java
Boys
Cafe.
“I
didn’t
feel
threatened,
but
I
felt
saddened
by
it.”
Others
in
the
community
say
spray
painting
hate
words
in
a
gay
neighborhood
is
a
hefty
crime
with
serious
consequences.
Nate
Klarfeld,
president
of
the
Stonewall
Library,
said
that
as
the
son
of
two
Holocaust
survivors
he
is
...
 |
 |
| The
following comments were posted by our readers and were
not edited by floridablade.com. We ask that you
treat others with respect; any post deemed offensive will
be removed. |
|
|
