Monday a week ago, my wife alerted me to tagging in the parking lot near our house. She was really upset. I saw it, and I was upset too. I do not want to make anyone see this unwillingly, so click on the link.
Parking Lot Tag
That wasn’t all. We were looking at that screed, when our new neighbors came down into the parking lot. They were upset as well, because they had been tagged too, but not just with graffiti. On the street, there was a tag . . .
Jerkstore
Notice the arrow pointing towards the sidewalk. It was pointing to some more of the taggers' handiwork, on my neighbors' front stoop:
Target?
After seeing that, we noticed that there were more tags up and down the street, covering a distance of almost two blocks. Here’s some of it:
Hate Rape Nation
More
Even More
Notice the recurring signature: "Hate Rape Nation." I have Googled this term, and I’ve checked Wikipedia, and there is nothing that matches exactly. "Hate rape" is a term that appears to denote a hate-based crime of rape, but there is nothing I found that describes a particular form or particular class of victim.
However, based on what I would say is a reasonable interpretation of these tags, the writer is targeting gays or lesbians. I only mention lesbians, because several years ago, there were some lesbians living in the house marked with the duct tape. Otherwise, I cannot think of any reason why the particular residence was targeted. Since then, two married couples and a large extended family lived there. The current residents, the ones who came down to talk to us are one of the married couples, and they just moved in.
You can read, watch, or hear about hate crimes, but the stories may not resonate until you see the evidence for yourself. We live in what I like to think is a nice neighborhood, and for the most part, it probably is nice. But, I have heard from the members of the local neighborhood watch that we do have a few enclaves that are populated by what I will charitably refer to as "dirtbags."
Two things make this more upsetting: first, the taggers had to come a long way into private property to paint the parking lot tag, so I believe they are would have no reservations about coming into a yard or a house; and second, the adornment on the stoop, along with the "X" on the door appears to me to be more than just tagging - rather, it looked like targeting.
We've contacted the police and our local city councilwoman, who is very keen on stopping violence against gays and lesbians. There wasn't much anyone could do, since no one saw anything, and it seems to be a new M.O. I was told the best thing you can do about graffiti is paint over it quickly. We did that in the parking lot, and our neighbor down the street did it too. We're waiting for the city to either paint over the rest of it, or give us the paint to do it.
I hope that this is not an effect of the hateful anti-gay invective that is spewed out daily by the likes of Michael Savage, Ann Coulter and Don Imus, and that none of you ever have to confront something like this. Nevertheless, Please be alert for anything that may suggest the existence of any organization of movement that espouses or uses "Hate Rape Nation."