Confronting Crime

Philadelphia’s Gayborhood was plagued by two high-profile crimes last month in almost the same spot — the rape of a woman who was living in Philadelphia for less than a week and the robbery and beating of a gay man. With no arrests yet in either case, the crimes have put the area on edge.

Philadelphia, and the Gayborhood, are certainly no stranger to crime. A glance at the Crime Watch statistics PGN runs each week that cover the 6th District, which encompasses the Gayborhood, are often rife with cell-phone snatches, auto thefts and other crimes. Citywide, Philadelphia has seen 226 homicides so far in 2013. Just in the past two weeks, the city has seen 52 rapes and 161 gunpoint robberies. But, it is uncommon for those more violent crimes to occur within the seemingly safe confines of our rainbow-street-signed enclave — which made the two incidents, within four days of one another, all the more alarming.

Crime can happen anywhere. Even bucolic settings far from the city have their own criminal elements. But that’s not to say neighborhoods should accept incidents such as last month’s as par for the course.

Philadelphia has been called the City of Neighborhoods, and the Gayborhood, perhaps more so than any other area of the city, is comprised of a very well-connected, close-knit group of people. There are a sea of LGBT-owned businesses, bars and restaurants, LGBT people live on every street and LGBT people largely comprise the clientele at area companies and organizations. The LGBT community comes together for charitable causes, for celebratory events and to mark milestones, both triumphs and tragedies, in the LGBT movement. This is also a time when the LGBT community needs to present a unified front.

These incidents will definitely have a pervasive impact on the two victims, but it is important that they do not also shape perceptions about, or realities of, the Gayborhood. Violent crime usually doesn’t, and shouldn’t, have a place in an area designated to be a safe space for LGBT people. LGBT residents, business owners and visitors to the Gayborhood should be taking an active role in ensuring incidents such as these remain anomalies — by installing video-surveillance equipment, reporting to police every instance of questionable behavior and remaining vigilant about their own safety and the safety of those around them.

There is no way to completely eradicate crime from any community. But, the LGBT community has a history of confronting oppressors to protect its rights, and that attitude should also be employed to protect the community’s streets.

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