PROVINCETOWN, MA: A new intolerance visits Provincetown
Police say gays accused of slurs

By Adrienne P. Samuels, Globe Staff
July 14, 2006

PROVINCETOWN -- Town leaders here are holding a public meeting today to air concerns about slurs and bigoted behavior. And this time, they say, it's gay people who are displaying intolerance.

Police say they logged numerous complaints of straight people being called "breeders" by gays over the July Fourth holiday weekend. Jamaican workers reported being the target of racial slurs. And a woman was verbally accosted after signing a petition that opposed same-sex marriage, they said.

The town, which prizes its reputation for openness and tolerance, is taking the concerns seriously, though police say they do not consider the incidents hate crimes.

"Hate language is usually the early-warning signal that could lead to hate-motivated violence," Town Manager Keith Bergman said. "And before that happens, we try to nip it in the bud."

Gays have coexisted fairly peacefully alongside other residents in this community on Cape Cod's tip, home to a long-established Portuguese fishing colony.

Provincetown was recently re-certified for its "No Place for Hate" designation by the AntiDefamation League, which worked with the town on tolerance issues in the 1990s after gays experienced some problems. But the town's "No Place for Hate" group, set up to address incidents of bigotry, hasn't met in years.

"We have not had problems in a long time," police Staff Sergeant Warren Tobias said. "I don't necessarily view this as a big problem, but it's certainly a blip on our radar screen."

Along the main shopping street and the wharf, residents of this 3,400-person town -- which swells to some 30,000 over the summer -- say tensions are rising in part because of strong feelings about same-sex marriage.

"I've been here for eight years, and I think in that time the population has changed a bit and there is a little less tolerance," said Simply Silver store owner Bill Mitchell, 53, who said he is gay. "There has been a little more tension."

Meanwhile, Jamaicans say the intensifying debate over immigration is making racial issues worse.

Winsome Karr, 45, originally from Jamaica, has worked in town since 2002. Lately, she said, the off-color comments stem from gay visitors who mistakenly believe that all Jamaicans share the views of an island religious sect that disagrees with homosexuality.

Karr's strong accent reveals her Jamaican roots.

"After a while people from here get used to you, and it changes," said Karr, who works at a Tedeschi Food Shop not far from Commercial Street. "It's just because of the image that gay people have of Jamaicans. People -- no matter who they are -- get defensive of their lifestyle."

On same-sex marriage, the clashes have occurred as the state Legislature grapples with whether the electorate should vote on a measure to limit marriage to heterosexuals. A group that supports gay marriage, knowthyneighbor, has created a website displaying the names of more than 100,000 signers of a petition that calls for the state Constitution to be amended to prohibit same-sex marriage.Continued...

Knowthyneighbor's tactics are controversial, with critics alleging that knowthyneighbor is making the names of same-sex marriage opponents public in an effort to expose or intimidate them. The group's founders say they are simply promoting civic discourse.

The names of 43 Provincetown residents are listed on the website. Most of the petition signers attend St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church, which serves the Portuguese community and others in town. The Catholic Church has helped lead the fight against same-sex marriage.

One St. Peter's parishioner, Yvonne Cabral, was verbally accosted last Friday by Provincetown Magazine publisher Rick Hines after Hines learned that Cabral signed the petition, according to police.

Police Chief Ted Meyer plans to seek charges of disorderly conduct against Hines, who saw Cabral shopping and loudly called her a "bigot," according to both Hines and Meyer. Other people who signed the petition -- and subsequently had their names posted on the same website -- said manure has been spread on their properties in recent months, Meyer added.

All parties involved agree that Cabral was shopping and Hines was buying a hotdog when Hines told Cabral that she was a bigot.

Police said the matter was under investigation and declined to provide the Globe a copy of the police report.

The Rev. Henry J. Dahl, pastor at St. Peter's, heard about what happened to Cabral, and about another parishioner who said she felt intimidated after a flier was stuck on her car in the middle of the night with a list of the names of petition signers -- including her own. Dahl decided to call the police chief.

"People who signed the petition, I think they knew what they were getting into," said Dahl. "There was a certain expectation of knowing that when you make a statement like that, there could be certain consequences that follow."

"But this was a dramatic experience," he said, referring to Cabral's encounter with Hines.

Hines said the matter was being blown out of proportion.

"I knew she signed the petition and I ran into her, and I gave her a piece of my mind," said Hines.

Hines added: "After being pushed and prodded your whole life for being gay, you run into someone you know sees you as a second-class citizen and it's human to respond. . . . I regret that it happened that way."

When approached by a reporter yesterday, Cabral, who runs a trolley service , gathered tourists onto her trolley at the Town Hall stop, pulled the bell, and called out: "I don't want to divide the community over this issue."

As the trolley pulled away, a sign attached to the back came into view. It read: "That 'love they neighbor' thing? I meant it . . . [signed] God."

Provincetown is mostly white, but includes several hundred people who identify themselves as biracial, along with 258 blacks, 11 American Indians, and 17 Asians.

It's not clear what percentage of the residents are gay. Some residents question whether a problem really exists between gays and straight people in Provincetown, suggesting that tourists are the ones bringing in hateful language.

"I haven't noticed a rift," said Luanne Lipkin-Kelman, 53, who was selling artwork with her partner at an outdoor craft fair at the local Unitarian church. "The whole draw of P-town is that it's an old Portuguese fishing community and friendly to us."

Samuels can be reached at asamuels@globe.com
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/07/14/a_new_intolerance_visits_provincetown/
Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.