Q-Patrol returns to the streets of Houston 30 years after the murder of Paul Broussard as hate crimes rise in Texas

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — It’s been more than thirty years since Paul Broussard was killed, highlighting what many in Houston’s LGBTQ+ community already knew at the time: police simply didn’t take hate crimes seriously.

That’s why a group of determined young gay men created their own security force, Q-Patrol, collaborating to keep each other safe in dangerous times.

It all started in 1991 in Houston, Texas.

Stephen Tompkins and Mark Gartner were in their thirties.

“Men were prohibited from dancing together, and any behavior could provoke such raids,” Tompkins said.

“They accused you of public lewdness—dancing—and I was arrested one day,” Gartner added.

Then came the murder of Paul Broussard.

As he walked home from a bar in Montrose, the center of Houston’s gay community, the 27-year-old banker was attacked by a group of teenagers and young adults.

He was stabbed with a pocketknife, kicked with steel-toed boots and beaten repeatedly with nailed clubs.

Even after calling the police, the ambulance did not arrive for several hours.

After emergency surgery, Broussard was pronounced dead.

“Okay, we need to take a stand. Steven and I have been on several patrols in our area in southeast Houston,” Gartner said. “We knew something about it, so we were the first ones to put our hands up and say we kind of know how to put this together.”

“We know we need maybe some people on foot patrols, maybe some people on bikes, maybe in cars communicating with walkie-talkies,” Gartner said.

“And be highly visible, such as T-shirts and cars with magnetic signs,” Tompkins added.

“We would find out where the license plate was registered and send a postcard,” Gartner said. “Dear Mom and Dad, the driver of this car has been observed harassing gay men in the Montrose area, and we want to let you know that we know who you are, we know where you live, and we know what’s going on. on.’ We received a lot of hate mail from fathers saying, “I’m proud of my son.”

“The important thing is that they knew that we knew who they were and where they would be if anything happened,” Tompkins added.

“It was dangerous, but it was exciting. That’s part of what made it fun,” Gartner said.

“Our good friend Brian Bradley looked the young people in the eyes and said, ‘You’ll go to jail and they’ll call you Maria.’ The boy began to cry. It was spectacular,” Tompkins laughed.

“That’s when we first started getting the police on our side. Before that they said: “Yes, you were beaten again, you probably deserved it.” This is exactly the attitude we received,” Gartner explained.

By the mid-90s, Q-Patrol began to lose members.

“It just kind of fizzled out,” Gartner said, “in a very positive way because people felt safe. Did you know that three years after we did Q-Patrol… the police department at a hiring event at a gay pride parade had a hiring booth?”

But progress is difficult.

Hate crimes have risen in recent years, and survey after survey shows that they are grossly under-reported.

Here in Texas, the Republican-controlled state legislature passed more anti-trans laws in its last session than ever before.

“When I moved to Montrose in 1997, Q-Patrol was all the rage. I remember watching them walk through the streets. I remember feeling safer. So, I wanted to do everything in my power to make it happen again so we can stay safe,” Ethan explained to Michelle Ganz.

Ganz is now a volunteer for the new, revived Q-Patrol.

Members do not patrol the streets as often, but are encouraged to support protests and other LGBTQ+ gatherings.

They encourage everyone to take part in self-defense and de-escalation training.

“We’re not trying to hurt people. We’re trying to protect ourselves,” explained Andrew Degar, co-founder of Third Ward Jui Jitsu, a nonprofit group that provides self-defense training. “It can be done with words, it can be done with deft actions, at different levels, before moving on to a more brutal approach.”

“Sometimes you don’t need to know anything. You just have to show up,” Ganz said. “It matters more than anything else because they see the effort. A lot of people have such apathy about a lot of things, so they just stand around as bystanders, but when you show up and care, it makes a difference and it creates real reality.” relationship”.

Tompkins and Gartner have already left their jobs and volunteer daily.

For them, the revival of Q-Patrol is both bitter and sweet.

“I think a lot of that happened because of some of the changes that we initiated, so I’m very proud of that,” Gartner said. “But your other question is: is there more to do? Yes. There’s always more to do,” Gartner said.

This is a new generation of activism, inspired by the work of the past.

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