Dallas LGBT activists are calling on the community to rally Sunday night, Oct. 11, on National Coming Out Day, at the Legacy of Love Monument as a show of strength and solidarity in opposition to a recent rash of possible hate crimes in the Oak Lawn gayborhood.
Three gay men have been injured in three separate attacks since Pride parade day in Dallas on Sunday, Sept. 20. About a month and a half earlier, on July 29, the body of murdered trans woman Shade Schuler was found in a field near the Medical District.
And overnight Thursday, Oct. 8, glass doors at JR’s Bar and Grill and TMC: The Mining Company — two Caven Enterprises bars located in the 3900 block of Cedar Springs Road — and at Woody’s Sports and Video Bar — one block over at 4011 Cedar Springs Road — were broken out when someone threw something, possibly bricks, through the glass.
“We say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!” declares the Facebook page announcing the Sunday night rally. “On this National Coming Out Day join members of the Dallas LGBTQ community and our allies as we say publicly that we will not be pushed back into the closet by fear, intimidation and hatred. Join our call for justice and vigil with us for the victims of these atrocities.”
We Are Not Afraid: LGBTQ Response to Hate begins at 7 p.m. at the Legacy of Love Monument, located at the intersection of Oak Lawn Avenue and Cedar Springs Road. The list of speakers is still being finalized, but you can check for updates at the event page on Facebook.
Organizers ask that those attending bring signs, banners, flags, candles and other light sources.
Here is the info on the three men who have been attacked:
• A young man named Blake, who has asked that his last name be withheld because his attackers are still at large, was walking near Cedar Springs Road at 9:15 p.m. on Sept. 20 after the Dallas Pride Parade when he was attacked him with a baseball bat and abducted by four men. They pulled him into a car and then dumped him, bloody and beaten, near the intersection of Sylvester and Wycliff. Because his assailants used anti-gay slurs during the attack, police are investigating the case as a possible hate crime.This case is being investigated as a hate crime. A GoFundMe account is still collecting donations to help Blake.
• Jaime (Michael) Domingez was walking home down Cedar Springs Road, near the Cedar Springs Tap House, when he attacked around midnight on Friday, Oct. 2. He was attacked from behind and stabbed and cut several times with a razor blade or knife, leaving him with stab wounds and cuts on his arms, stomach and across his eye. There is also a GoFundMe account set up to help cover his medical costs and other expenses.
A third man named Michael, who also asked that his last name be withheld, said two people punched him recently as he was walking to a Cedar Springs bar. He said he didn’t call police right away because he’d been drinking before the attack happened, but he changed his mind after seeing televised reports about the attack on Jaime Domingez.
Shade Schuler’s badly decomposed body was found July 29 near the 5600 block of Riverside Drive. Police are still trying to determine how she was killed and a possible motive for her murder. Schuler, 22, is one of 21 trans women killed nationwide this year. Most of those victims have been trans women of color.
Rally set for Sunday in response to attacks
