By Myron Dean Quon
From InformAsian, GAPSN Monthly Newsletter, November, 1999

Last month, GAPSN joined Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc., the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center in attempting to vindicate the rights of Juan Miguel Bigornia, "Jamie" - a young gay man of Filipino-descent.

Jamie was an undergraduate student at University of La Verne in March 1996. Jamie also was president and founder of the campus gay and lesbian student organization.

Two La Verne students - members of the intercollegiate baseball team - brutally attacked and beat him after taunting him for being gay. At a bar across the street from La Verne's campus, the two students asked if Jamie was gay. When Jamie said "yes," the two students began punching Jamie's head and face. Jamie got away but not before one of them banged Jamie's head against a closed door. One student yelled "fucking fag," and that student ultimately was convicted of battery and a hate crime.

As appropriate, Jamie sought assistance from the university's administration: he asked that his attackers be disciplined under the school's disciplinary code and for further protection to keep him from any more encounters with his attackers. The school ignored his pleas for assistance.

The following year, while the attackers were criminal defendants for their heinous actions, Jamie discovered that the attacker that had yelled "fucking fag" was in a class with him. Jamie asked that the university removes that attacker from his class, but La Verne refused to assist him. Jamie had to proceed on his own and obtain a restraining order against this attacker in order to have him removed from Jamie's class.

Consequently, due to La Verne's inaction, Jamie went into exile and avoided the school campus. His learning experience and extracurricular life were severely impaired.

Jamie sued the university on several theories, including that it violated California's civil-rights statute - the Unruh Civil Rights Act - when it failed to protect him from his attackers or discipline them, because of Jamie's sexual orientation.

GAPSN joined in a friend-of-the-court brief, arguing that the Unruh Act prohibits schools from ignoring when anti-gay students create a hostile environment for its gay students. The brief also discussed the psychological effects of being a victim of a hate crime.

GAPSN lent its name to this brief because Jamie is representative of GAPSN's membership and what can happen to any of us. In particular, as a member of a "double minority," we are all subject to greater risks -Jamie's two attackers were of course white, and at least anecdotally, Jamie's race played some part in his being chosen as a target. Further, with the recent hate-based killings of Matthew Shepard for being gay and Joseph Ileto for being Filipino-American, GAPSN must be particularly mindful of hate crimes committed against us, because of our race, our sexual orientation, or both.

For further details on this case, or for more information on dealing with hate-crime issues, please feel free to contact me.