Educators discuss crime against gays, lesbians

As part of Domestic Violence/ Dating Abuse Awareness Week last week, educators discussed lesbian, gay and bisexual relationships Thursday in the Bishop White Room of Houston Hall. The two speakers focused on providing awareness about gay and lesbian relationships and on how to handle the abuse and violence that sometimes occurs in them. Robert Schoenberg, the program director for the lesbian, gay and bi-sexual community, spoke about the lack of literature concerning violence in the gay and lesbian communities. The issue is often skirted, he said, because the gay and lesbian communities do not want a negative image of themselves projected to the heterosexual world. Schoenberg sought to debunk the myth both inside and outside of the homosexual community that gay and lesbian relationships are the same as heterosexual ones. "A gay or lesbian couple doesn't have the same social supports that heterosexual couples have," said Schoenberg. "And a heterosexual couple might ask, 'Shall we have Thanksgiving dinner at your family or mine?' whereas gay and lesbian couples might not have that option." Relationships in the gay community are affected by unique problems, Schoenberg said. Male couples often suffer from a lack of intimacy, while female couples often fuse into one persona. Society has taught men to be independent and strong, and this can create tension and friction in a relationship between two such individuals, he explained. "Both can't take charge," Schoenberg said. "Both can't drive [the car], one has to ride shotgun." And, Schoenberg said he has heard of lesbians who get similar haircuts and imitate personal habits of their partners to the point where they lose their personal identity. The other speaker, Betsy Constan, a counselor at University Counseling Service who specializes in gay and lesbian problems, stressed the point that violence pervades different classes, cultures and sexual preferences in today's society. Battering, which is the control of another person through physical or emotional methods, is especially pernicious in the homosexual community, she said. "Since there is no power disparity, there is a perpetuating system of blaming the victim," Constan said. There have been incidents where battered lesbians have been refused from domestic violence shelters because they were lesbians, the counselor added. And for men, it is even more difficult. "Men are taught to be tough. So what does it say about the man in terms of his physical identity [when] he doesn't fight back," said Constan. "And in Philadelphia, there are few places for men to go for help." Domestic Violence Awareness Week was organized by the Pre-med chapter of the American Medical Student Association at the University.