El Paso, Texas GLBTQ Center opens amidst violence

El Paso, Texas - Thursday night marked the opening of a new GLBTQ community center in downtown El Paso.

Last Monday night the director of the Center, Charles Sloane, was assaulted (kicked and hit in the head) in the lobby of the Center. He said "That's one of the things we're here to combat. We're going to continue to go to the community and bring this up."

"Imagine if the adults are doing this what's going on in the schools. Nationwide, more than 50 percent of students (who identify as gay) say they’ve been assaulted."

Sloane said the attackers used the term "faggot," and that such occurrences were fairly well known within the gay community, but not always well-reported.

"We've gotten three reports of assaults in the last two months, and in every single one they would not report anything to the police department."

Sloane said he wanted the opening of the center to be marked by a positive outlook, and not defined by the single act of violence that took place Monday.

full article - source: The El Paso Tree - author: Sito Negron