UNLV cop’s e-mail brings hate home

Stacy J. Willis

Thursday, Oct. 22, 1998 | 11:08 a.m.

A UNLV police officer's anti-gay e-mail message drew the attention of panelists at a university symposium on hate crimes Wednesday night.

The event was intended to educate people about prejudicially motivated crimes in the aftermath of the recent murder of a gay Wyoming college student, but panelists were forced to address intolerance closer to home: a controversial e-mail sent to about 2,000 university employees by UNLV Officer Bill Mason.

The message was sent two weeks ago in response to a campus-wide e-mail announcement about Coming Out Day for gays and lesbians, according to Phil Burns, UNLV Campus Community Development Program Director.

Under the announcement, Mason wrote: "Please be advised that many (most of us) deeply resent your unauthorized use of the university net system to promote this form of mental illness. You wish to belong to the above group, fine. Stop wasting my tax dollars with this trash."

Other university employees immediately lashed out at Mason via e-mail, saying that homosexuality is not a form of mental illness. The dialogue eventually drew a statement from University President Carol Harter condemning Mason's message.

"Although intolerant words are a far cry from beating deaths, they are nevertheless chilling in an academic community," Harter wrote in her own campus-wide e-mail Oct. 14. "...If there are those that have fundamental disagreements with UNLV's commitment to create a 'just and inclusive' campus environment, they might profitably seek work or education in organizations or at institutions with whose goals they can more readily agree."

The UNLV Police Department is in the process of determining how to discipline Mason, said Officer Rochelle Sax, a panelist at the hate crimes symposium.

"We will not tolerate in our police department unfair treatment of anybody," Sax said. "Bill Mason's view was strictly that. It is not the view of the other police officers or staff that is employed by the police department."

But the incident illustrates a key problem with preventing hate crimes, according to the seven panelists from law enforcement and minority communities who spoke to more than 60 people in a UNLV auditorium Wednesday night.

While Nevada has hate crimes laws on the books, it takes community support to create an atmosphere where victims of hate crimes are comfortable reporting the crime.

"The Legislature can pass the laws, but you need communication and cooperation from the entire community to make it work," said panelist Sen. Mark James, R-Henderson.

Although the UNLV Police Department has received no reports of hate crimes in the last three years, the speakers agreed that the statistics don't necessarily mean the crimes aren't occurring. Instead, panelists said, some victims are afraid to report the crimes for fear of reprisal.

"How comfortable would you be as a gay person going to (Officer Mason) for help?" said Lee Plotkin, a gay activist and panel member.

Valley-wide, the situation is similar, according to Metro Police Capt. Terry Lesney, a panelist. Lesney said that there have been 27 "bias crimes" so far this year in Las Vegas; two were based on sexual orientation, two were based on religion, and the remainder were race-based.

"But I know for a fact there have been more than 27 incidents of bias crimes in the Las Vegas Valley," Lesney said. "Reporting it is the first step... There's not a whole lot law enforcement can do if the victim doesn't report it."

Nevada is one of 24 states with laws that allow judges to impose more strict sentences on offenders whose crimes were motivated by hatred of the victim's race, religion, or sexual orientation, said Tamara Lawson, an Assistant District Attorney who served on the panel. The Nevada hate crimes statute became law in 1995.

The gay University of Wyoming student, Matthew Shepard, 21, died Oct. 12 after being beaten several days earlier. Wyoming does not have a hate crimes law.

The UNLV hate crimes panel discussion was the first of several. The group hopes that by continuing education and encouraging dialogue, they will increase tolerance and prevent hate crimes in Las Vegas, Burns said.