The Gill Foundation recently released statistics gathered as a part of an ongoing study of treatment of gays, lesbians, and bisexuals in the Colorado Springs area. The Graduate School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado surveyed 196 gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals who were participants in the 1998 Gay Pride Day event in Colorado Springs. The survey included questions about respondents personal experiences with discrimination and violence in the past year in the Springs area. While we don't have details about these incidents, comments indicate that they range from verbal threats to physical attack. The extent of violence is only one indicator of the environment for gays and lesbians in the Colorado Springs region.
Discrimination can also have a profound effect on people's lives.
Discrimination and verbal harassment were especially likely to occur in public places such as restaurants. It should be noted that these data underestimate the potential for discrimination faced by the surveyed group. For example, if respondents did not seek housing, they could not have experienced discrimination when attempting to rent or buy housing. In light of the recent death of Matthew Shepard who was violently murdered because of his sexual orientation, we feel that these data will help people understand that violence and discrimination are pervasive problems in Colorado and are not limited to the one horrific event that happened in Laramie. It is our hope that fair-minded people everywhere will look at these data and the events of the past week and understand the need for all of us to speak out against violence and discrimination said Katherine Pease, Executive Director of the Colorado Springs based Gill Foundation.