Ken Schwencke

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Confusion, Fear, Cynicism: Why People Don’t Report Hate Incidents

It is one of the most striking and curious statistics contained in a recent Bureau of Justice Statistics report on hate crimes in America: 54 percent of the roughly 250,000 people who said they were victimized in recent years chose not to file a formal complaint with the authorities. The Matthew Shepard Foundation, an advocacy organization based in Colorado that played a role in successfully pushing for national hate crime legislation, has recently tried to better understand the phenomenon. The foundation began asking the Denver residents notifying the organization about being victimized to explain why they did or did not […]

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In Search of the Eagle

In at least nine countries and 15 U.S. states, you can find the Eagle. In Montreal, it’s called L’Aigle Noir; in Minneapolis, it’s the Eagle Bolt Bar; in New Orleans, it’s a room above another bird bar. But all of these places are unmistakably the Eagle: A family of gay bars with no formal relationship. Think black walls, Bud Light, bearded men and perhaps a large wooden cross with cuffs dangling off. It’s the closest thing gay men have to a global franchise. You can walk into one in many cities and know what you’re in for, like a gay […]