The Nation.

This section presents an update on news related to the gay community in the U.S. as of June 7, 2005. Chris Crain thought he would be safe walking hand in hand with his boyfriend in gay-friendly Amsterdam in the wee hours of April 30, 2005. So when a strange man spat on him, Crain, editorial director for Window Media, which owns the Washington Blade and other gay newspapers, turned to ask why. That was when a group of men appeared and attacked him. When religious and political leaders publicly denounce gays and lesbians and push laws to deny their fights, antigay violence increases. That was the conclusion of a report released in April 2005 by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) and the Triangle Foundation of Michigan. The total number of violent antigay incidents reported to NCAVP increased four percent in 2004, a year in which 13 state constitutional bans on same-sex marriage passed amid a dramatic increase in antigay political rhetoric, including in Michigan.