Laguna Gays Fearful That Attacks May Become Habit

Three unrelated, brutal attacks on gay men have left some residents of generally tolerant Laguna Beach apprehensive and concerned about the possibility of a prolonged wave of anti-gay violence.

A fourth incident occurred about 2:10 a.m. Sunday, according to Laguna Beach Police Sgt. Don Barney, when shots from a high-powered rifle were fired from across Coast Highway into an area near the Coast Inn, where a gay bar and several gay businesses are located. No one was injured in the shooting, and police have no suspects.

Tonight, as they did last week, gay community leaders and business owners will meet with police officials to discuss ways to stem the assaults. The meetings were called by Laguna Beach Councilman Robert Gentry, who is Orange County’s only openly gay elected official, who said, “The leadership of the gay community here is taking these attacks very seriously.”

James Spreine, Laguna Beach’s deputy chief of police, said Sunday that he doesn’t think the city has a serious, sustained problem of anti-gay violence. Nonetheless, he said that youths outside Laguna, who are believed responsible for two of the recent attacks, create the potential for a severe problem.

“We’re not going to tolerate it,” Spreine said. “We’ll pursue very actively anyone who assaults gays or anyone else in our community.” In the first incident, early June 19, two men were attacked and robbed by a gang of men while on the beach near Cress Street, near several gay bars and businesses. One of the victims, an Irvine man, lost an eye in the attack. “Now, if we see someone walking to the beach late at night, and if they’re not familiar with the area, we tell them nighttime is not the time to be on the beach,” said Rich Dulcich, part owner of the Little Shrimp, a gay bar near where the attack occurred.

The second attack occurred July 14 in Heisler Park, where some gay men are said to hang out at night. Three young men described as Skinheads bludgeoned a Los Angeles man with a pipe so severely that he required 80 stitches on his head. Three men from Huntington Beach have been charged with assault with a deadly weapon in that attack and are awaiting trial.

The third attack was also in Heisler Park, early on July 31. The victim, who police said was a transient, was beaten by a trio of youths from outside the community, who fired shots from a gun before fleeing but didn’t strike the man. Police believe they know who the attackers are, and they are being sought.

While it isn’t clear whether the transient is gay, he said, police say the attackers were out to victimize a homosexual.

As for the shooting early Sunday, several messages left for the owner of the Coast Inn were not returned, and the manager of the bar there said she had “absolutely nothing to say” about the recent incidents.

Later in the day, several men on the street near the gay bars said they had heard of the attacks and were being a bit more careful when out at night.

“You bet I’m concerned,” said one Laguna resident who requested anonymity. The man said he had decided “to stay out of Heisler Park” since hearing of the incidents.

Carlos Falcon, a Santa Ana resident visiting Laguna on Sunday, said he comes to the city only rarely. However, if he lived in Laguna, “I sure would not walk alone at night in this part of town,” he said, referring to the area of the gay bars.

Gentry said he attributes the attacks to unfounded AIDS hysteria, “coupled a lack of strong civil rights legislation nationally and locally.” These conditions, he said, “have created a real hotbed of potential danger, and that’s why we’re all so frightened.”

On the Edge

Gentry himself is on edge these days.

He said that while loading groceries into his car at a supermarket Saturday, he overheard a frightening conversation between two men climbing out of an adjacent truck.

“I heard of them say, ‘This place is full of AIDS-carrying fags. I wish I had brought my gun down here,’ ” recalled Gentry. “I immediately went into a cold sweat.”

According to both Gentry and Spreine, steps that police officials and gay leaders have discussed taking in response to the attacks including beefing up weekend patrols near the gay bars and Heisler Park. Also being discussed are the implementation of education programs for gay residents of Laguna Beach on how to avoid and react to violent attacks.

Gentry, who characterized relations between the city’s police and gay community as excellent, said he also wants to ensure that the district attorney vigorously prosecutes the three Huntington Beach men apprehended in the first Heisler Park incident.

Unsettling, Frightening

“It is very unsettling, very frightening and threatening,” Gentry said of the attacks. “A lot of us who live here frankly thought this type of activity would never come to Laguna Beach.”

To one Laguna Beach man, though, the attacks are “nothing new.”

“There’s always been fag-bashing,” said the gay man, a 10-year Laguna Beach resident who said he was beaten badly about a year ago by a gang of youths. Anti-gay attacks, he said Sunday, “are your standard summer greeting in Laguna Beach. It’s a rite of passage for some of the kids in the inland areas.”