The Center’s Board of Trustees learned earlier this year that Wessler was planning to leave the Center for Preventing Hate in December 2012 to pursue writing, teaching and other work.

After concluding it is unlikely to find a new Executive Director with the unique blend of passion, experience and fundraising ability of Wessler, the Board examined the viability of continuing the Center without Wessler at the helm, and ultimately decided to work with him to bring the organization’s activities gradually to a close in a way that will allow the Center’s work to be carried on into the future.

It is a decision the Board makes with deep gratitude for Wessler’s years of leadership and vision.

“The Center for Preventing Hate, under the leadership of Steve Wessler and with the aid of a highly skilled and dedicated staff, has led the way in helping our schools and communities adjust to major societal changes for more than a decade. On very sensitive and emotional issues, the Center has guided us in how we can improve as citizens and members of our communities. As an individual, I have learned from its programs – and Lewiston-Auburn is a better place because of the work the Center has done here,” said Chip Morrison, President, Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce.

“For 12 years, the Center for Preventing Hate has helped to keep schools and communities safe, giving students and citizens the tools to understand and combat the bias that so often leads to harassment and violence,” said Board President Diane Kenty. ”The students and community members who have received training from the Center will continue to make a difference in Maine and beyond through their strong, informed advocacy for tolerance and civility,” Kenty added.

The Center for Preventing Hate will be conducting “training-the-trainers” conferences to prepare school personnel and others to lead bias prevention workshops in their institutions. Additionally, the Center will explore with other nonprofit organizations possibilities to assume both programmatic and fiscal responsibility for the Center’s key New Migration and Unity Projects.

Today, EqualityMaine and the Center for Preventing Hate are calling attention to the savage attack on a 22-year-old woman in a Baltimore County, Maryland, McDonald’s restaurant to express sympathy and solidarity with the victim and because, as the Maine Legislature considers legislation to restrict appropriate restroom use for transgender people, this crime tragically illustrates the harassment and violence transgender often face when accessing public bathrooms.

On April 18, Chrissy Lee Polis was viciously attacked by two teenagers as she entered the women’s bathroom at McDonald’s, after her attackers recognized Chrissy is transgender. Polis was dragged across the floor by her hair and repeatedly kicked and punched to the point where she had a seizure, while employees and others looked on. The brutal attack lasted more than three minutes, until another patron intervened. It was filmed by a restaurant employee – who can be heard laughing and urging the assailants to leave before the police arrive –  and became international news a week later when the video went viral on the internet. An 18-year-old woman and a 14-year-old girl have been arrested and charged in the attack, which is being investigated as a hate crime. Polis was treated at a hospital for her injuries.

The attack happened less than a week after the Maryland Senate rejected a transgender non-discrimination bill that had previously passed in the House.

“Our thoughts, prayers and sympathy go out to Chrissy Lee Polis, and we are thankful she has physically recovered from this vicious, senseless beating. That someone could be so violently attacked for simply trying to use a restroom in a fast food restaurant is incomprehensible,” said Betsy Smith, executive director of EqualityMaine. “This is not an isolated incident. Violence and harassment – or the fear of such harm – is a daily reality for transgender Americans as they go about the most mundane daily activities like walking down the street or eating at a restaurant, which the vast majority of others do without constantly worrying about their physical safety.”

“As our legislature considers LD 1046, which would repeal existing protections in the Maine Human Rights Act to restrict access to public restrooms for transgender people, EqualityMaine calls on lawmakers to carefully consider the fact that transgender people are vulnerable to violent crime and harassment, especially when they’re not protected under law,” Smith added. “Our laws shouldn’t further stigmatize and marginalize transgender people, who are precisely the people most at risk for discrimination and prejudice.”

“Laws and language help shape our social and cultural climate. Our legislature should not open the door to the type of hate violence Chrissy Lee Polis endured by passing LD 1046,” said Steve Wessler, executive director of the Center for Preventing Hate. “Non-discrimination laws send the message that discrimination is wrong and shouldn’t be the norm. Creating an exemption from the law for bathrooms threatens to undermine all of the protections in our Human Rights Act by sending the message that it is acceptable to discriminate against transgender people.

“My heart goes out to Chrissy Lee Polis, her family and the entire Maryland transgender community for what they have been through,” Wessler added.

“Acts of hate and bias like this have no place in our city,” Wessler said. “Muslims in Maine and across the U.S. deserve the same respect as all others who live here. They serve in our armed forces, teach in our schools and care for our sick. On September 11, Muslim firefighters and paramedics courageously stayed in the Twin Towers trying to save lives.”

According to media reports, someone spray-painted threatening messages this morning on the wall of the Maine Muslim Community Center, located in Portland’s East Bayside neighborhood. The phrases included “Osama today Islam tomorow (sic),” “Long Live the West,” “Go Home” and “Free Cyprus.”

The vandalism was found hours after the announcement that U.S. special forces killed Osama Bin Laden, the leader of the al-Qaida terrorist group and the proclaimed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, on Sunday in Pakistan.

“The death of Bin Laden should be a call for the end of terrorism worldwide,” Wessler said. “It should not be the beginning of bigotry in our state. We are better than that.”

Related articles:

Graffiti on Portland mosque under investigation
Portland Press Herald

Portland Mosque Vandalized in Wake of bin Laden Death
MPBN

Maine Muslim Community Center vandalized after death of Osama bin Laden
WCSH 6 News

Community Conversations
11 am – 1 pm Thursday, April 28
Catholic Charities Maine – Seton Room
250 Anderson St., Portland, ME 04101

Space is limited. To reserve a seat, contact:
Doris Ortiz
[email protected]
(207) 221-6268

In November 2003, the Center released a report entitled The Fractured American Dream: The Destructive Impact of U.S. Anti-Terrorism Policy on Muslim, Latino and Other Immigrants and Refugees Two Years After September 11th, 2001. The report documents incidents of anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant bias experienced by Maine residents in the years since September 11th, as well as the effects of these incidents on communities of color.

The report documented and found that while hate crimes and bias incidents decreased in 2002, anxiety and fear in Muslim, Latino and other immigrant and refugee communities actually increased. The Center learned from many of the interviewees is that the United States government’s anti-terrorism and immigration policies are primarily responsible for increased levels of anxiety. Detentions, deportations, special registration and the PATRIOT Act combined to alienate many members of Maine’s communities, making them feel scared, depressed and isolated. Many community members no longer feel safe in the world outside of their homes.

In 2008, residents across Maine rallied against hate. In Portland, over a hundred people gathered in Monument square in October where they listened as a local man shared how strangers questioned his sexual orientation, called him anti-gay slurs and proceeded to assault him. In November, prominent civil rights leaders joined the Governor and the NAACP at the University of Southern Maine to denounce the rise in racial incidents following the election of Barack Obama. On Thanksgiving weekend, more than 150 Hallowell residents assembled along the River Trail to condemn the KKK signs.

At each rally, Executive Director Steve Wessler shared the same important message. In his words, “The most important question we should be asking ourselves today is, ‘what will we do tomorrow, next week, next year?’ To prevent events like these from repeating, we must stand up against bias and prejudice every time we hear it in our daily lives.”

As one resident shared, “We all have a stake in the future progress of L/A. I was hopeful that I saw [at the conversation] different age ranges, cultures and representatives from law enforcement. I gained an insight and appreciation of how others see a scenario from different perspectives.”

“I want to say something,” the boy began. “I have bullied some, well a lot of you in this class and I’m sorry. I never should have made you feel those things we were talking about and I am not going to do it anymore. I was wrong.”

Immediately, the whole class cheered. Urey commended his bravery and tied it back into the lesson. Near the end of the session, the boy stood up again and apologized to his teacher for not listening to her all the time and for being rude and making her cry.

The teacher replied, “Thank you. You might make me cry again right now.”

A few weeks later, the facilitator was surprised to find the same young woman in a second session for new students at the school, especially since an administrator had shared during her first visit that the student was at high risk for dropping out. When Gaumont quietly asked the guidance counselor for an explanation, the administrator replied that the student had enjoyed the first session so much that she asked to join a second time because she wanted to start working on reducing bullying and harassment with her peers. She also committed to staying in school.

The student’s new found inspiration to stay in school inspired Gaumont as well. In her words, “her commitment renewed my understanding that we never know the impact that we have on those around us.”

During the conference, the Center’s Executive Director Steve Wessler and Research Specialist & Facilitator Barrett Wilkinson led controversial dialogues on sectarian issues. They asked the students to share how sectarianism affected them personally as well as how it impacted their schools and communities. Students spoke candidly about their experiences as well as compassionately listened to one another’s shared challenges.

At the conference, the three active Unity Teams in Northern Ireland also delivered presentations on the activities they conducted in their individual schools throughout the year. For example, the students from St. Mary’s shared how they created a Unity Team magazine with stories and information about bullying and harassment. Meanwhile, the students from Oak Grove and Foyle both shared dynamic slide shows about their work, which included campus television programming and student surveys on bullying prevention.

Returning from her first trip to Northern Ireland, Wilkinson was impressed with the students. “I was sad to leave,” she shared. “The Unity students of Northern Ireland are doing tremendous work and setting a great example for their peers.”