A member of the South Side LGBT organization Youth Pride Center ( YPC ) was attacked and beaten earlier this month as he waited outside a Green Line train stop. The victim of the attack, according to an e-mail from YPC, appeared "feminine" and carried a handbag.
According to YPC President Frank Walker, it is the fourth time in four weeks that an organization member has been the object of anti-gay violenceand the 17th time this year. YPC, which has an office at 1525 E. 55th, is a support and advocacy group for queer youth, particularly youth of color.
The 19-year-old YPC member, who asked that Windy City Times refer to him only by his first name, Prince, was attacked following an organizational meeting on the evening of Nov. 10. After taking the Green Line to the West Side's Conservatory/Central Park stop, 3631 W. Lake, Prince said that he was walking down the street as he noticed somebody following him.
He was five blocks from his house, using his phone to try to call his ride.
As Prince approached a corner, a group of five men converged upon him. One, he said, "asked me what I had in my hand." Another had a gun, which he showed to Prince before putting it away.
The group beat Prince so badly that both his eyes were swollen shut. Eventually getting out from under the group of men, Prince said he left the scene bleeding badly. The attackers took his coat, bag and phone.
"There were people out there," he said, "and cars going past, but no one called the police." When he asked somebody on the street to use a phone to call the police himself, the person refused, instead pointing him toward nearby police officers.
Weeks later, Prince said, "My eye hasn't gone down." He said that he suffered multiple injuries in the beating, including broken blood vessels in his eyes.
Walker said that the group plans to undertake a campaign, called "Flatline the Violence," highlighting the anti-gay sentiment faced by LGBT youth. An e-mail that YPC sent out detailing the attack on Prince bemoaned the lack of awareness of the problem, particularly when such attacks occur on Chicago's South and West sides.
"In a city or county with a LGBT liaison in almost every department," the e-mail stated. "It's going to take death to get a response, it appears."