Daily News Tribune - February 4, 2009

WALTHAM — In a room filled with social workers, law enforcement and advocates, Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone yesterday stressed the need to draw attention to domestic violence in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.

According to Jane Doe Inc., one in four gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people are battered by a partner at some point in their life.

Leone said he fears that “in the gay community, where the community is more tightly knit, people might be more cut off from other support networks.”

At yesterday’s discussions, Leone explained the efforts taken by his office to better educate police and create legal mechanisms to help protect gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual abuse victims.

“I hope we’re moving towards an era where people feel they have a right to be safe,” he said.

Laura Van Zandt, executive director of Waltham-based REACH Beyond Domestic Violence organization, said there are parallels between domestic violence in the gay community today to that of postwar America.

“I think what is happening in the GLBT community was probably very similar to what was happening in domestic violence issues in the early days,” she said at yesterday’s roundtable discussion. “In the ’50s if you were a battered wife, you still didn’t want to tell people because it was a reflection on you and your family.”

Leone said his office is working on several strategies to help victims, including roundtable discussions, police training programs and collaboration with law offices to help victims obtain restraining orders.

“Training is absolutely essential in this area to break down long-held norms and mores on relationships,” he said. “It’s not a gender issue, it’s an intimate partner issue.”

Late last year, Leone’s office began a pro bono initiative with lawyers from Boston’s Proskauer Rose and Cooley Manion Jones firm to identify domestic violence victims who need legal assistance. The initiative assigns an attorney to represent the victims free of charge.

“The fact of the matter is in the GLBT community, they have added barriers against disclosure … which makes this community more deserving of our protection,” Leone said. “It isn’t about gender, it’s about power and control and abuse.”

Leone said it’s too early to tell whether the efforts have led to an increase in incidents being reported.

“Because of a trust and confidence of reporting incidents, you may see the numbers go up initially,” Leone said. “Over time what we hope is the numbers go down because we are addressing the abuse and we’ve seen that in other areas … we’ve seen that with OUIs with more law enforcement and public safety emphasis.”

Van Zandt said domestic violence in the gay community is something more service providers are beginning to pay attention and respond to.

“I think probably what we’re seeing is something where the more we talk about it,” she said. “The more it makes it possible for people to come forward to say, ‘this is happening to me,”‘

Jeff Gilbride can be reached at 781-398-8005 or at jgilbrid@cnc.com.