Madison police arrested two teenagers Monday evening at East Towne Mall after they harassed two other teenagers about their sexual orientation.
Charles Stokes and Maurice Fox, both 17, followed two other males out of Finish Line, insulting and threatening them. According to Mike Hanson, public information officer for the Madison Police Department, the victims continued to avoid Stokes and Fox as they were being harassed. Nonetheless, violence erupted.
The two will now be charged with hate crimes on top of the battery charges they are facing as a result of the fight.
Two female friends who were with Stokes and Fox at the time of the incident originally did not want them to pick a fight, Hanson said. Yet, they encouraged the two once violence began.
According to a Madison Police Department press release, the victims sustained minor injuries.
The incident raises questions about the safety of Madison for the LGBT community. UW-Madison student Ben Chamberlain made headlines in January for an alleged hate crime after he harassed the LGBT liaison in Ogg Hall.
Eric Trekell, director of the UW-Madison LGBT Campus Center, said the city has a history of friendliness towards gays and lesbians'a history that is not necessarily accurate.
'I don't know [what] the history of hate crimes is here in Madison,' Trekell said. 'but heterosexuals have had a sense that this is a safe place. I think that LGBT people recognize there really is no safe place for us.'
'Some places are safer than others, and Madison might be one of those,' Trekell continued. 'But this goes to show that no place truly is safe.'
UW-Madison professor of LGBT Studies Anne Enke said the court system has been reluctant to protect the LGBT community in the past.
'There have been cases in the last two years that have received legal attention, but even though it was positive, the victims had to work hard to get any action taken against the perpetrators,' Enke said.
Enke also commented on the safety of Madison for the LGBT community.
'It may be a little easier and less dangerous to be out in Madison than in many places,' Enke said. 'But the risk of violence still exists.'
'There is a possibility of this happening here, or anywhere,' Trekell said. 'We discover that these types of assaults happen even in San Francisco, which is considered to be an LGBT mecca.'
Trekell said he was not surprised by the ages of the attackers, as anti-gay sentiments are common even in youth.
'Welcome to our world,' he said.
