3rd teen charged in alleged gay attack on peer

by David Weber

As more than 260 Boston High School students and faculty pledged to respect their peers' diversity, a 17-year-old girl yesterday became the third student arraigned for the beating last week of a classmate thought to be lesbian.

Nykesha Gant of Dorchester pleaded innocent in Boston Municipal Court to charges of attempted rape, indecent assault and battery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (a knife) and civil rights violations.

She was released on personal recognizance, and the case was continued to March 7 for a probable cause hearing.

In an interview with the Herald, Boston High School Headmaster Thomas Hennessey objected to the depiction of his school as a place where tensions have run high between gay and straight students.

"Absolutely not,'' he said, when asked whether Boston High had significant problems around the gay-straight issue before the Thursday afternoon beating on an MBTA train.

However, John MacDonald, a teacher and coordinator of student dispute resolution groups, said there is "constant'' tension between gay and straight students, but no more so than at most other schools.

MacDonald, who is openly gay, said, "The deeper question we need to explore is what is it within ourselves that creates this rage and allows us to become violent.''

Yesterday, 263 students and faculty signed a petition proclaiming, in part, "We, the undersigned, wish to make a public statement affirming our belief in the dignity of every human being. We respect each person and celebrate the diversity of our community as reflected in the differences of color, ethnicity, culture, religious background and sexual orientation.''

On Monday, two 15-year-old female Boston High students were arraigned in Boston Juvenile Court on the same charges. Three others, including a teenage male who held a knife to the victim's throat, are still being sought in connection with the attack.

The beating occurred Thursday afternoon on an Orange Line train after the teens boarded at the New England Medical Center stop, officials said. Investigators and school officials said the beating was prompted by the fact that the attackers had seen the 16-year-old victim holding hands with another girl as she was leaving the school on Arlington Street.

MBTA police said the victim is a native of Morocco, where it is a custom for young girls to hold hands without connoting any sexual relationship.

A group of five girls taunted the Moroccan girl, pointing to their own genitals and asking her, "Is this what you like? Is this what you want?''

One or more of the girls allegedly ripped the victim's clothes and jammed her hand inside the victim's pants. While this was occurring, a male companion held a knife to the victim's neck and ordered her not to fight back.

MBTA police continue to look for the others involved in the beating.

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