Out in the Night

Late at night in August 2006, a group of young black women walk down the Avenue of the Americas in the West Village. Typically, these women frequent the area as a place of acceptance. They find themselves at home among the populous LGBT community. Yet, on this night, an ogler begins to threaten the women when they deny his advances by admitting they are lesbians. Fearing for their safety, the women fight back, and one of them pulls out a knife. In the ensuing brawl, the man suffers a non-life-threatening stab wound, and the women successfully defend their lives. Or so they think. Renata, Patreese, Venice, and Terrain—exploited as a “Gang of Killer Lesbians” in the media and dubbed the “New Jersey 4” by activists—plead innocent to charges of gang assault but are ultimately sentenced to as many as 11 years in prison. blair dorosh-walther’s documentary OUT IN THE NIGHT follows the heartbreaking story of what happens when four women stand up for themselves. – E.B.