Friday, Feb. 8, 2002

WASHINGTON — The Human Rights Campaign expressed sympathy today for a Montana family whose house was set afire Feb. 7 in apparent retribution for taking part in a recent American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit on domestic partner benefits. Partners Adrianne Neff, Carla Grayson and their infant son narrowly escaped the blaze through a window. Their house, however, was gutted in what fire officials believe may be arson. Federal officials are now involved in the investigation, which is being handled as a triple-attempted homicide.

"Our hearts go out to this brave family who were nearly killed because they courageously decided to fight for equal treatment and fairness," said HRC National Field Director Seth Kilbourn. "We applaud the authorities for moving quickly to fully investigate this apparent hate crime. We hope law enforcement will arrest and prosecute these criminals to the fullest extent of the law and send a strong message that these terrorist tactics have no place in America."

On Monday, Neff and Grayson — along with other plaintiffs and PRIDE Inc., a group representing gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Montanans — filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Helena seeking health benefits for gay partners of University of Montana employees, where Grayson is a professor. The defendants in the case are the university system, the state, the commissioner of higher education and the Board of Regents.

The lawsuit gained local media attention and those publicly named in the suit received death threats in the mail that read "die dyke," according to the ACLU.

A special fund has been established to assist the couples with costs associated with the fire and subsequent security measure. Checks are payable to "Relief Fund" and should send to P.O. Box 775, Helena, MT 59624.

"HRC will continue to closely monitor this case and is committed to working with local activists to make sure justice prevails," said Kilbourn. "Our community will not be harassed or intimidated into silence."

The FBI Uniform Crime Reports for 2000 — the latest year for which statistics are available — showed that as overall serious crime decreased slightly nationally, with the crime index at its lowest level since 1978, reported hate crimes have continued to rise and increased 2.3 percent from 1999 to 2000.

Reported hate crimes based on sexual orientation have more than tripled since the FBI began collecting statistics in 1991, and comprise 16.3 percent (1,330) of all hate crimes for 2000. Hate crimes based on sexual orientation continue to make up the third highest category after race and religion, which make up 53.6 percent and 18.2 percent, respectively of the total (8,152).