Unsolved attacks in Dallas LGBT district unnerve gay men looking for justice

Activists rise up to ‘take back Oak Lawn’ but still party with caution as police
have yet to make arrests in connection to dozens of brutal assaults since last
summer

Tom Dart in Dallas
Thursday 28 April 2016 13.00 BST

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Between then and now, activists estimate there have been about 30 attacks in the Oak Lawn area – a dozen or so unreported – all but one against gay men and committed by perhaps six to nine individuals. Police have made no arrests and seemingly have no suspects. Dallas police did not make a spokesperson available for this article.

After a spate last fall there was a quieter period, but activists say there have been more attacks in recent weeks that have gone unreported. Only two have been officially categorised as hate crimes: to be classed as bias-motivated the authorities require evidence such as the use of gay slurs. But whether propelled by hate, the intention to commit robberies, or both, the location and profiles of the victims suggest the perpetrators believe gay men are easy targets.

Oak Lawn is an appealing neighbourhood near downtown and Love Field airport with restaurants and bars along its lively main strip, Cedar Springs Road, where Dominguez was attacked. The residential side streets are quiet but on the main roads, pedestrian and vehicle traffic almost create enough of a buzz to muffle the rumble of the aircraft flying low overhead. It’s well suited for bar-hopping on foot, but that seems a risky proposition these days, just as it did more than a decade ago when there was a succession of murders of gay men.

“If I go out now I’m with a group of friends, I don’t walk home. If I find myself wanting to leave earlier than friends, I will call an Uber or a Lyft even if it’s two blocks,” Dominguez said.

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