GAY MAN FREED IN KILLING

By ALYSHA BRENNAN & THERESA CONROY

abrenna@phillynews.com


LUCAS Dawson began carrying a knife after being attacked while kissing
his
male lover in a South Philadelphia Park four years ago.

Now, after a second assault by gay bashers - one of whom he killed in
self-defense - Dawson's thinking about getting a gun.

The 21-year-old was cleared yesterday of charges in the fatal stabbing
of a
17-year-old boy who was among a group that attacked him near his East
Mount
Airy home on Oct. 29.

There was great relief at the Dawson home yesterday after the decision
by a
Municipal Court judge, but now the concern is his safety.

Last night, Dawson packed to leave home for fear of retaliation.

"I mean, seven guys jumped me, and one guy died," he said. "There's
still six
other people that want to hurt me.

"I fear for my safety, and that's why I'm moving away," he added. "I
won't
carry a knife on me anymore, but I am considering getting a gun
permit."

David Diggs, the boyfriend of Lucas' mother, Lisa, said Lucas was not
safe in
the neighborhood any longer.

Lucas had been in jail since he was arrested after the stabbing of
Gerald
Knight, who was one of five to seven teens - all strangers to Dawson -
who beat
him and who he said called him a "faggot."

"My mom missed me while I was gone because I was always singin' up a
storm,"
Dawson said.

Yesterday, he flashed a weary smile after Municipal Judge Gerard
Kosin-ski
dismissed the manslaughter charge.

Dawson, wisp-thin, frightened and frail, was released after the
hearing.

Defense attorney Kevin Birley said Dawson had acted in self-defense.

"We can't forget that my client was a victim of a hate crime," Birley
said.

"They wanted to hurt him. It wasn't that they were trying to get money
or
they had an argument with him," Birley said. "They simply wanted to
hurt him so
they kicked him and punched him... Even the first stab didn't stop the
attack.
It took a second stab to stop the attack."

Prosecutor M.K. Feeney said a jury should decide whether it was
manslaughter
or self-defense, but Kosinski disagreed.

"Looking at the circumstances here, I agree with the defense," Kosinski
said
after the preliminary hearing.

It was an unusual move for the district attorney's office to charge
Dawson
with voluntary manslaughter instead of a general murder charge. Feeney
said in
court that her office had made that decision after looking at all the
facts.

"This is truly a tragic situation for everybody involved, and nobody
should
have to worry that when they walk down the street they should be
attacked for
their sexuality or any other reason," she said.

Dawson said the teens followed him as he headed for a bus stop. The
teens
taunted him for being gay and repeatedly threw a basketball at him, he
said.

"One of them punched me in my lip," Dawson said in his statement.
"Then, they
all started punching me and knocked me to the ground. I was scared and
I felt
like if I didn't get up they would probably kill me. I felt a wave of
strength and I got up... I took out the knife and waved it."

When Knight punched him, Dawson said he thrust the knife into his
chest.

"I didn't think the knife went in because he kept punching me, so I
stuck the
knife in him again," Dawson said.

After the hearing, Diggs said the family felt sorry for the Knight
family.
"They lost their kid," he said.

The pain of that loss was evident on the face of Knight's father. When
the
judge announced the dismissal of charges, he exclaimed, "That's my
son!" When
approached outside the courtroom, he yelled angrily at a reporter,
saying he
didn't want to talk about his son.

"If you really wanted to know who he was, you should have come to the
funeral," he shouted.

At the Dawson home yesterday, Lucas said, "I want to put this all
behind me.
My life has been turned upside down and I have to start over."

"It makes me sad," Dawson added. "I broke down in court today. I never
wanted
to hurt anybody... . I was trying to get these guys away from me.

"My mom said, 'You might feel bad about killing someone, but if you
didn't
have that knife, somebody would be knocking on my door telling me my
son's
dead.' "

Lisa Dawson, 40, said she is happy to have Lucas back at home, and is
looking
forward to finally being able to sleep through the night.

"I'm relieved," she said. "The air feels clean again."

Dawson says he'll continue pursuing an acting and modeling career.
"When I
was in prison, I got to thinking what I was going to do with my life,"
he said.

"I would like to help gay people so that this type of thing won't
happen
again," he said.

"It's just about ignorance, you know? I believe what you put out, you
get
back. And I want to give back.


Lucas Dawson and his mother,
Lisa, after they were told Lucas' case would be dismissed.

Corporate Ghetto

You know you are CORPORATE GHETTO if the following are true:


1. You don't officially start working in the morning until you read
your
e-mails.

2. You have at least one drawer/cabinet that contains more food than
office
supplies.

3. Not only do you know all the security guards, janitors, and
cafeteria
workers...ONE OF THEM HAS ASKED YOU OUT ON A DATE.

4. Your version of a conference call is when you call your friends and
plan
what you are doing for the weekend.

5. The only time your man/woman picks you up from work is on payday.

6. Friends and family members call you at work to cuss you out because
you
didn't answer your phone quickly enough.

7. You paint your nails at your desk.

8. When you are on a personal call you, laugh so loud your co-workers
on
the other side of the office come and ask you what's so funny.

9. You have pictures on your wall with you and your friends at the
club.

10. To beat the system, you have codes for personal calls that let's
someone know to call you right back. ("Let the phone ring two times
and
call me rightback")

11. You give your out-of-town friends your company's 1-800 number.

12. Before calling in sick, you rehearse your sick voice and sick story
several times out loud.

13. Co-workers inquire how your father's surgery went that required you
to
be out for days and you haven't seen your daddy since he left your
momma
when you were born.

14. You use the company's postage machine to stamp your letters.

15. Your kids' school supplies all have your company insignia on them,
or
you order personal supplies for you and your kids.

16. You call in sick on payday Friday and send your cousin to pick up
your
paycheck. (Now THAT'S REAL ghetto!! Get direct deposit!!)

17. You contribute $1 to the office Christmas party, eat the most food
and
take a platter of lunch meat and potato salad home to your family for
dinner.

18. Before someone uses your telephone at your desk, they have to wipe
the
chicken grease off the handset.

19. You call in sick on Friday because you went out on Thursday.

20. You don't like your supervisor and a couple other co-workers and
you
tell them off on a regular basis and wonder why you haven't been
promoted.

21. You get your haircut/hair done on lunch and come back two hours
later.

22. You tell your creditors off for calling you at work.

23. You come to work on Fridays dressed for the club.

24. Your kids call your job and say to the operator, "Let me speak to
my
mama"

25. You eat sunflower seeds at your desk.

26. You are sitting there reading this instead of getting your work
done.

27. You get a pedicure done for lunch & wear flip flops @ work.

28. You have a pair of slippers underneath your desk.

29. You play music @ your desk that you'd hear @ a club.

30. You crack gum @ your desk.

31. You have Bebe Kids on your cubical walls.

32. You own a mirror @ your desk & put makeup on @ your desk.

33. Your cousin, your sister-n-law, a friend from school all work w/
you.

34. You yell out of your cubicle to talk to someone who is NOT your
cubby
buddy. (sits nowhere next to you)