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Ott recounted the frightening experience to the officers, who offered to call him a cab, but refused to do anything about the assault. Ott took down the license plate number of the offending officer only to be arrested. According to Ott, when asked why he was being arrested he never received a reply. Bars served as a popular safe space or third space environment where members of the queer community could socialize.

Lost Spaces: Memories from Gay Bars, Lesbian Clubs, and LGBTQ+ Parties

But they were also the site of harassment, surveillance, and violence. Mistrust of police following such encounters would stymie efforts to solve a string of murders, tracked back to but most likely earlier either not reported by the news or not explicitly stating the victims were associated with an LGBTQ identity.

There was fifteen-year-old Michael Petree, murdered in and left in a ditch in Hamilton County. Police Chief Joseph G. In an era before dating apps, cruising sites provided common areas where LGBTQ members could congregate and meet other people. They tended to be associated with gay men gathering with the intention of a sexual encounter.

They also made seven recommendations to police, including establishing a liaison to communicate with the homosexual community; cease video surveillance; train officers to be more sensitive in their interactions with the LGBTQ community; and educate the police force about homosexuality. We feel we can resolve our problems much quicker and more effectively than we have in the past.

IGLC made progress in opening a line of communication between law enforcement and the queer community, which in turn may have improved efforts to solve gay-related homicides. Twenty-three individuals issued harassment complaints with the Indiana Civil Liberties Union. One of these was David Molden, who claimed officers choked and slapped him during his arrest for using false identification.

Detective Don Wright invited representatives from all of the affected bars, as well as victims and witnesses. All did so in detail and apparently in all of the incidents the attitude and discretion of the responding officers was exemplary, with one exception. Detectives at the meeting pledged to dispatch more plainclothes officers at the affected businesses to deter future robberies.

It is unclear if their assistance helped the police investigation, as some of the murders were not solved until with the discovery of Westfield serial killer Herbert Baumeister. In the case of some victims, police never identified the perpetrator. However, the murders resulted into closer communication between the queer community and the IPD.

However, the efforts of the IGLC and the Indiana Civil Liberties Union in the s removed some of the stigma in seeking recourse against discrimination. Additional sources include the following. All newspaper sources can be accessed via Newspapers. Share this:.