| Amnesty International details police abuse of gays and lesbians in the USA
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PageOneQ
 A report issued by Amnesty International today details the high level of police abuse against thousands of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals in the United States, PageOneQ has learned.
"Thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people across the USA are victims of a system that fuels discrimination and facilitates torture," the human rights organization said in a statement released with the report.
The report cites examples of abuse by law enforcement personnel:
2004: In Athens, GA a woman tells how a former County Deputy raped her at gunpoint. The officer said he was doing it to "teach her a lesson."
2003: A Native American transgender woman tells Amnesty International how two officers in Los Angeles, beaten, abused and raped, handcuffed her. "That's what you deserve," one of the officers told her.
2003: A young African-American gay activist in Chicago was arrested at a bus stop when was arrested for solicitation and loitering. Ignoring the fact that the young man had identification and information from his organization, he was detained by the police for two days.
For a period of three years, from 2003 through 2005, Amnesty conducted research and interviews with victims, community members, lawyers and law enforcement officials. "The interviews reveal a very clear and worrying pattern. Cases of beatings, sexual violence, verbal abuse, harassment and humiliation by law enforcement officials against LGBT people," the organization said.
The report also explains a dilemma faced by many victims of police abuse. They are often hesitant to come forward with accusations dues to fear of retribution. Because of this fear, Amnesty explained, many cases go unreported.
At the same time the report was issued, the organization called upon federal and local authorities to work to prevent discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and to investigate and prosecute police abuse.
For the complete report: Stonewalled – Still demanding respect.
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Originally published on Friday March 24, 2006.
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