The Maryann Finegan Anti-Violence Project (also called the Maryann Finegan Project and Maryann Finegan Anti-Gay Violence Project), was an LGBTQ+ violence prevention program created in 1989 by LGBT Community Center founder Aubrey Wertheim. Wertheim created the Maryann Finegan Anti-Violence Project to “track and fight” violence, hate crimes, and harassment against LGBTQ+ Clevelanders. The program was named in memory of Mary Ann Finegan, the lesbian victim of an anti-LGBTQ+ hate crime and murder. In 1982, Mary Ann Finegan and her partner were abducted outside of Isis, a lesbian women’s bar. Finegan was subsequently murdered in her car at a secondary location in the Flats district. Finegan’s murder remained unsolved at the time the Maryann Finnegan Anti-Violence Project formed in 1989.
The Maryann Finegan Anti-Violence Project operated with an all-volunteer staff at the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland‘s West 29th St. location . The anti-violence program focused on providing advocacy, resources, and assistance for victims of anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes, violence, and harassment. Project volunteers tracked and reported statistics regarding hate crimes against LGBTQ+ community members in Cleveland. Volunteers also engaged in educational and political outreach campaigns to raise awareness and combat violence against LGBTQ+ community members in Cleveland. The Maryann Finegan Anti-Violence Project ceased operating in 1994 after the LGBT Community Center could no longer provide the staff, resources, and funding necessary to maintain the program.
Additional information coming soon.
Resources
- “Anti-Gay Violence Project Suspended by Center.” Gay People’s Chronicle. May 6, 1994. Page 3.
- “Cleveland Anti-Gay Hate Crimes Rise 60 Percent.” Gay People’s Chronicle. October 1, 1993. Page 2.
- Glaser, Chris. “Chapter 11: Mary Ann Finegan.” Purple Armadillos: The Intellects, Entrepreneurs and Oddballs of Northeast Ohio’s LGBT Community in the 19th and 20th Centuries. June 21, 2010.
- Glassman, Anthony. “A Generation of News.” Gay People’s Chronicle. February 4, 2005. Page 4.
- Hagan, John F. “Project to Assist Gay Victims of Assault.” Plain Dealer. December 7, 1990.
- Harris, Patti. “After 28 Years, Mary Ann Finegan Case is Solved.” Gay People’s Chronicle. February 26, 2010. Page 1-2.
- Laycock, Robert. “Maryann Finegan Project.” Gay People’s Chronicle. October 1990. Page 8.
- Negron, Sidney. “Maryann Finegan Project.” Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. April 5, 2022.