March Against Attacks Draws 700 in Hillcrest : Protest: Parade reflects anger and frustration over the series of violent assaults, including a fatal stabbing, in the largely gay and lesbian neighborhood.

More than 700 people marched through the streets of Hillcrest in a candlelight take-back-the-streets parade Sunday evening in response to a fatal assault on a 17-year-old and a recent swarm of attacks in the area.

The hastily organized march along University and Robinson avenues drew lesbians and gays from all parts of the county who are angry and frustrated with what they perceive as a rash of attacks against homosexuals.

“The main objective here is to just let people know that we are not going to allow someone to take away the streets from us,” said Michael Portantino, publisher of the Gay & Lesbian Times.

The neighborhoods of Hillcrest and North Park have been the scene of about 35 attacks since June, including the fatal stabbing Dec. 13 of John Robert Wear, a high school student.

Many of the assault victims have been gays or lesbians, but the attack on Wear and two companions was the first to have been labeled a hate crime because their assailants allegedly yelled anti-gay epithets during the incident.

The death of Wear, who was not gay, sparked a public outcry against the series of beatings, mostly along University Avenue, mobilized the gay and lesbian community and led to the creation of volunteer community patrols in the area.

“We are not going to let these incidents go unnoticed and unremembered. . . . It’s time that we take care of ourselves for just a little while,” Michael Spradley, an organizer of the march, told the crowd that gathered in front of Soho Tea and Coffee on University Avenue.

“We need to send a strong message to the perpetrators of these attacks that crimes against race, crimes against women and crimes against gays and lesbians are not acceptable,” he said.

The gathering of more than 700 people on a cool night just days before Christmas was a significant demonstration that people’s attentions are focused on the problems of the neighborhood and that they are beginning to look for solutions, said Matt Weathersby, liaison to the gay and lesbian community for the San Diego Police Department.

“They have had numerous problems out here . . . and I think the community is finally realizing that the community should not and does not have to take this anymore,” he said.

Meanwhile, residents of the neighborhood are still afraid.

“It’s been a lot scarier to walk the streets since the attacks began,” said Amy Brown, who has lived in Hillcrest for four months.

“It used to be a safe neighborhood,” said Robin Standring, 29, who has lived in nearby Talmadge all her life. “Now it’s gotten out of hand.

“We’re tired of all the bashing and crime that goes on.”

George Blunt moved to Hillcrest to get away from violence and homophobia in Long Beach, but said he found no solace in San Diego.

“This is worse,” said Blunt, a member of Act Up , an organization of gay activists, who lives less than a block from where Wear was stabbed to death.