The Pink Panthers Patrol (often shortened to Pink Panthers) were a civilian patrol group based in New York City, founded by members of Queer Nation in the summer of 1990 in order to combat anti-LGBT violence in Manhattan's West Village. [1] [2] Gay bashings in New York City were happening on the streets with regularity at the time. [3] The organization's logo was the pink triangle with a paw print in it. [3]
Gerri Wells founded the organization. [3] It recruited about 150 members shortly after its establishment. [3] The members would organize into groups to do foot patrols in gay areas. [3] These patrols would carry whistles to scare off assailants, and some groups carried citizens band radios to call for help. [3] If necessary they would seek police support. [3] In case of an attack, they would intervene to protect the victim. [3] Wells explained that there was a public perception that people could physically assault gay people without consequence, and that the gay community would no longer tolerate this behavior. [4]
They received notoriety when they were successfully sued in 1991 by MGM Pictures, the owner of the rights to the Pink Panther cartoon. [5] The neighborhood watch group would patrol areas that had a large number of gang assaults on LGBTQ people. In NYC, where the Pink Panthers was founded these patrols would generally be in the East and West Village. There was a number of patrols in the rambles (Central Park).[ citation needed ]
