A group of security, first aid and martial arts experts are patrolling the streets of New York’s Greenwich Village after a rise in anti-gay violence. The New York Initiative was founded in 2009, when its members walked the streets in super hero outfits to draw media attention to crime in New York. Its members have since taken off their masks, expanded across the US and UK, and now added Greenwich Village patrols to its usual stomping grounds of Brooklyn and Harlem. It follows a jump in homophobic attacks in the area, most the most horrific being the murder of Mark Carson, who was called a faggot before being shot in the face. The Village is regarded as a gay-friendly area, and the shooting happened not far from the Stonewall Hotel, where a 1969 raid has come to symbolise the gay rights movement. One of the New York Initiative’s founding members Zero has told Gay Star News members were not vigilantes and only ever used reasonable force in stopping illegal violence. “We are peaceful warriors.” The group is also offering a free self-defence class for LGBT people.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Sunday, 23rd June 2013 - 1:38pm