The Incident (as Burt remembers)

      My partner and I had just left the Gay Pride Festival at University Park and were walking north on Pennsylvania Avenue to wander through the Talbot Street Art Fair (16th and Pennsylvania). As we approached 16th Street, there were two young men ahead of us: one was using a pay phone, the other was seated on a low retaining wall. As we walked closer to them I became aware of the seated youth muttering "Get Away" and "Get a wife!". When we got up even with them, he stuck out his foot and tripped me. I stumbled, recovered my balance, and turned around to say something on the order of "Don't do stuff like that!" or "What the f**k do you think you're doing", and he slugged me. I never saw it coming. He used his right fist and hit me fully on my left ear, knocking me down.
      [Some detail omitted here] As we were standing watching them walk away as if they had done nothing wrong, three police on bikes rode up. We flagged them them down and the two were taken into custody. The one that hit me was 15; his friend was 15 too as I recall.
      My ear was beginning to bruise and blood was present. The police never acted as if our complaint was less than authentic. I've nothing but positive feelings about the actions and attitudes the police took. An ambulance came and I opted to go to the hospital because my hearing was muffled (the broken eardrum).

About the Police Report

      Copies of police reports can be obtained from the Citizen's Service Desk located in the IPD wing of the City-County building in Indianapolis. The case number is 371713GA.

The Trial, Verdict, and Sentence

      The case was heard in juvenile court in late July. The prosecutor was pleased to have a victim willing to testify. Had we not, the case could not have been prosecuted.
      After waiting about 2 hours in a big waiting room (the two culprits and their families were in the same room), we were ushered into the courtroom. We were taken there separately from the defendants. Court proceeded, we told our story. They told theirs: I wasn't tripped but merely stumbled over his foot and took it as a personal affront. When I turned around, I lunged for him and he defended himself. The defendant's lawyer suggested it was an unfortunate misunderstanding that had escalated. The judge, in his ruling, said something to the effect, I don't live in a fantasy world. The defendant didn't like the life these two men live and attacked them. The charge is found "true" (guilty).
      Then the defendant was told to reappear a month later for sentencing and they all left. At that time the public defender (the defendant's lawyer) thanked us for appearing--we got the distinct impression he might have been feeling, "Just doing my job the best I can. You did right and justice was served". The standard policy for leaving the court house was for us to wait until the defendant's clan had driven away, then we could go out (with an escort if we wanted).
     In late August I got a letter from the county prosecuting attorney describing the outcome of the case: "The court found [the defendant] guilty of Battery with Injury and has ordered punishment for him to be Probation; Project Impact; Apology letter, With Essay, 8 p.m. Curfew."

Additional Thoughts

1.     We really felt isolated and alone. We were attacked 15 feet from the front door of one of the oldest gay bars in Indianapolis, and received a "ho hum what is else is new" response when we went in to call the police.
   

2.     The national and statewide hotlines don't work. The ones I called were "out of service".
   

3.     A day or so later I got a return call from the president of an Indiana social justice organization. He was supportive but he could do nothing other than encourage us to follow through with prosecuting the case.
   

4.     A week or so later the president of a GLB lobbying group contacted me and we talked for an hour or so. She related a bizzare story of the harrassment which happened in a small Indiana town to the owners and customers of a gay bar a few years ago. She encouraged me to be available to testify at legislative hearings on crime legislation, etc. There was nothing she could do other than listen.
   

5.     The response we got from the GLB social justice and lobbying groups may be very different in other situations. We are out and vocal and taking action. Its likely these groups could have more helpful had we not already been doing all we could.
   

6.     We called a local TV station and were on a newscast. We were treated very well by the team that interviewed and taped us. We felt they were pleased to have someone willing to "go" public. There were no bad consequences from being on TV. Its now 6 months later and I continue to run into people who saw the newscast and were taken aback that this can happen.