The Region - News from April 23, 1987

Victims of so-called “gay bashings” who have been reluctant to report such assaults, have been urged to do so to show police that attacks against homosexuals are on the rise in Los Angeles. Officials of the Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center in Hollywood said that the agency will immediately begin accepting calls from homosexual victims of assaults, robberies and other crimes in an effort to persuade the Los Angeles Police Department to alter its investigative procedures in connection with crimes caused by homophobia--hatred of homosexuals. There are no statistics on crimes committed against homosexuals, but gay-rights activists estimate that as much as 80% of the crimes against gays in Los Angeles goes unreported.