Gays Fear Violence in Wake of Protests : Homosexuals: Rights groups say they are on high alert because of threatening phone calls and flyers.

Fears of harassment and possible violence are spreading throughout the gay community because of a series of threatening phone calls, flyers and other incidents stemming from recent political protests, activists said Friday.

“Tensions are really high,” said David M. Smith, spokesman for the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center, who described gay organizations as being on high alert because of the political battle that began when Gov. Pete Wilson vetoed a gay job rights bill three weeks ago.

The veto has led to a series of gay protests, including one scheduled for today in Westwood, where Wilson is scheduled to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the UCLA Library.

In one of a number of similar incidents, the Hollywood-based Gay and Lesbian Center received a telephone call from a man who threatened the same kind of violence that resulted in the massacre of 23 people in a small Texas town’s cafeteria earlier this month.

“What happened in Killeen, Tex.,” he told the startled operator, “is going to happen to your place by 4 p.m.”

The threat, made a week ago, resulted in no more than fear and additional police protection at the Hollywood-based center, Smith said. But it represented a troubling sign of rising hostility that was evident again Friday as police confiscated “gay bashing” flyers at Cal State Northridge and investigated other apparent threats to gays.

Attention to the issue has fed support for the gay cause and opposition from anti-gays that have flooded hot lines with hate messages, according to gay rights activists.

“People’s bias against gays has been somewhat submerged,” Smith said. “With all this media attention, it’s being brought to the surface.”

The flyers at Cal State Northridge, calling for attacks on homosexuals, mentioned a group known as the Blue Boys, which has been blamed for several attacks on gays in West Hollywood and Silver Lake in the last few years.

Four of the crudely drawn flyers were found Friday, including two marked with swastikas. A series of such flyers were found on campus throughout the week, including one showing a stick figure knocking off another figure’s head with a baseball bat. The Blue Boys apparently use baseball bats in their attacks, police said.

The latest flyers were displayed during a teach-in by members of a campus group known as SQUISH, or Strong Queers United in Stopping Heterosexism.

“I’m sickened by this,” SQUISH member Matt Rodieck said Friday. “It makes me angry and scared.”

Elsewhere, gay organizations were urging members to be careful. Queer Nation, one of several gay organizations involved in a violent confrontation with police Wednesday night outside the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City, recorded a new message for its hot line.

In part, it warned members: “Please, do not go anywhere by yourselves. Do not walk alone. There are bashings, there are beatings happening all over the city. Be safe, be aware of where you are.”

Despite those fears, reports of violence or attempted violence against gays have not shown an obvious increase in recent weeks, said Sgt. John Powell, co-chairman of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Gay and Lesbian Conference Committee. But, he added, “There’s more awareness of gay bashing just because of the number of people on the street.”

Paul Daniels, a spokesman for the gay rights group Act Up/L.A., said hate calls are common at the organization’s offices. Although the number of such calls has not increased in recent weeks, he said, there is more concern about them.

“There’s a heightened awareness of what we’re up against right now,” Daniels said. “The more visible you become, the more you’re prone to attack. And homophobia has very deep, deep roots in this country.”

Meanwhile, in an apparent prank, a marquee at Eagle Rock High School was altered before dawn Friday to spell out, “Fags of the Week--Marshall,” in reference to rival Marshall High School. The message--a week after Eagle Rock lost to Marshall, 21-12, in football--was spotted by a teacher and quickly removed, said Eagle Rock Assistant Principal Neil Stone.

Times staff writer Greg Braxton contributed to this story.