Waikato Police's investigation into a bottle-throwing attack at Hamilton's Next Door Bar has raised serious questions about reporting crime in and against the gay and lesbian community. A bouncer and a drag performer standing outside the Next Door Bar were hit with a flying bottle from a passing car on Saturday 30th September, the night of the bar's 15th Birthday party. Ms Kris McGehan, Communications Manager at Waikato Police tells GayNZ.com the police did attend the incident and are investigating it. “Unfortunately, there were no descriptions of the offenders from witnesses, which makes it harder for us to find out who was involved,” she explains. “Apparently it was a random event.” McGehan says the Waikato region does not have a history of anti-gay violence. “In fact, we have very little crime reported here from the gay community. “The under-reporting of crime from the gay community has always been an issue for police. This is nothing new and we have made efforts to encourage gay people to tell us about it. We have little idea of how much crime is happening either within the gay community or outside it, for example gay bashing. “It is very rare for us to hear about any form of gay bashing,” McGehan continues. “Does it happen here? We don't know. Maybe it does and we don't hear about it.” McGehan wonders whether gay people are reluctant to tell police about homophobic incidents. “The year before last we established the first gay and lesbian liaison officer for our police district. It was the first appointment nationwide and received a good deal of publicity.” Ref: GayNZ.com (m)
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Monday, 16th October 2006 - 12:00pm