South Boston arson deaths highlight domestic violence in same-sex relationships

by Peter Cassels

EDGE Media Network Contributor

Monday November 16, 2009

The tragic deaths of two children in a Boston house fire last year shined a spotlight on a subject about which LGBTs often don't like to talk--domestic violence among their own.

An investigation into the fire in a South Boston triple-decker that killed 14-year-old Acia Johnson and 2-year-old Sophia Johnson in April, 2008, alleged the cause was arson. The children died holding each other in a closet. The fire burned them so badly the medical examiner needed dental records to make positive identification.

The blaze also seriously injured their mother, Anna Reisopoulos, but Acia's twin brother, Raymond, escaped unharmed.

The investigation revealed Reisopoulos and her girlfriend, Nicole Chuminski, had argued hours before the fire. Police arrested Chuminski after they discovered an accelerant on her clothing consistent with fuel investigators found on a door frame in the dwelling.

At her arraignment, Chuminski pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and one count of arson. She remains in jail pending trial because she was unable to post $1 million in bail. Each murder charge carries a mandatory life term without the possibility of parole, Jake Wark, a spokesperson for the Suffolk County district attorney, said. He told EDGE the trial will begin in January.

The children's deaths are among the statistics in the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs' 2008 GLBTQ Domestic Violence Report. The report showed a 125 percent increase in fatalities, from four in 2007 to nine in 2008. Coalition members reported 3,419 instances of domestic violence in the United States last year.

Two Boston organizations, The Network/La Red and Fenway Community Health, provided data for the report. The Network/La Red offers a hotline, support groups, an emergency shelter and other services. It also lends education and technical assistance to organizations and community groups. Its staff provides services in English and Spanish. Fenway Health has a support program for LGBT domestic violence survivors. And both organizations prefer the empowering word "survivor" to "victim."

Beth Leventhal, The Network/La Red's executive director, says LGBT partner abuse can be just as lethal as it is among heterosexual couples and, as the South Boston case illustrates, devastating to children.

Leventhal maintained in a phone interview with EDGE she feels domestic violence often remains hidden among gays and lesbians.

"This is an issue that has been with us forever, but we don't talk about it," she said. "It mirrors what happens in the heterosexual community. We only hear about it when there's a murder. In the straight community you hear people say, 'I had no idea. He was the nicest guy'." People may know such individuals as control freaks, but fail to make the connection with violence. "But it is," she emphasized. "There may or may not be physical violence, but the point is someone will do whatever they can to control their partner."

Leventhal added there are many ways partners use control as a weapon. An example is taking advantage of a partner who is undocumented and for whom English is a second language by forbidding them from speaking in their native tongue or threatening they will call immigration authorities and have them deported.

She said it remains hard for LGBTs to recognize and acknowledge partner abuse, in part, because they don't want to confirm stereotypes.

"People already think that we are sick, violent, can't be trusted in bathrooms and are predators," Leventhal explained. "No one wants to potentially have their experience used as an example in the community."

Another reason is because partners don't want to let people know they are in a relationship where domestic violence occurs.

"They have to prove that they are a poster child for their community," Leventhal contended.

Compounding the problem is violence against LGBTs, which is now a federal hate crime.

"People want a place where we know we are safe," Leventhal said. "It's clear that often we are not safe in the straight world. Where we are safe is in our communities."

Statistics show about 30 percent of couples--gay and straight--experience domestic violence. It's a phenomenon that knows no boundaries, whether sexual identity, orientation or geography. Incidents occur in urban, suburban and rural areas.

Leventhal further explained domestic violence is not only physical--it is also emotional, sexual, economic or identity-based.

"For example, they might use their own or their partner's identity as a weapon," she said. "A lot of people are abused in their first relationship. Without a lot of healthy role models, it's really easy for a batterer to say, 'Now that you have come out, you can't go to parties and hang out with friends. Now your attention must be on me'."

The isolation LGBTs sometimes experience also can play a role.

"If you are not out to your family, friends, clergy, co-workers or medical providers, you can't talk about the fact that you are in a relationship, much less the way in which that relationship doesn't feel right," Leventhal said. "Most people don't know what domestic violence is. What they do know is that it doesn't feel good."

The troubled economy also further exacerbates the problem.

"I think it's having the same impact as among straights," Leventhal continued. "Although stress and economic crisis do not necessarily cause domestic violence, it's often an excuse that batterers use. And more people are unemployed, are at home and have more time to monitor, stalk and abuse."

As the economy negatively affects government and non-profit organizations, resources to help domestic violence survivors dwindle.

"The safety net is just decimated," Leventhal acknowledged. "People looking to leave the abuse have fewer places to turn."

Often survivors need a place to stay to get away from their batterers. They can use it for a cooling-off period before they find places to stay with family or friends, move out of state or find a new place to live on their own--if they can afford it. The Network/ La Red provides a safe place, but that's only available from a few nights to no more than two weeks, Kaitlin Nichols, director of organizing and education, told EDGE in describing its limited resources.

There are few alternatives available to LGBT survivors. Other shelters for domestic violence survivors are not accommodating to their unique concerns and even those are always full.

"Many people are being turned away across the state," Nichols reported. "There aren't enough services and people are struggling to make ends meet."

Among the recommendations the NAVC included in its report was funding more programs specifically for LGBTs; a challenge in hard times.

Another is increasing law enforcement sensitivity training. Police often don't know how to deal with domestic violence among same-sex couples, even in a progressive state like Massachusetts.

"There have been horrific stories where people have been falsely arrested and their batterers have been set free," Leventhal reported. "Standard conduct is that there shouldn't be dual arrests. Police have told people, 'If I have to come there I will absolutely have to arrest both of you, so don't make me come.' People also have experienced police anti-LGBT comments and violence."

The Fenway Health program helps domestic violence survivors cope.

"A lot of the work we do is based on trauma recovery," program coordinator Kelcie Cooke told EDGE.

For example, health care providers are clinically trained to treat post-traumatic stress disorder.

"We also go to court to help survivors apply for restraining orders or find pro-bono lawyers," Cooke explained. "And, we work with the Boston Police Department's civil rights unit and do a lot of advocacy."

Peter Cassels is a recipient of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association's Excellence in Journalism award. His e-mail address is [email protected].