Residents and businesses in the Short North are on edge after a recent spike in violent crime. Columbus Police say a gay gang known as the Short North Bussy is to blame.
“Despite its recent reputation as a nightlife district, the Short North has a storied history of gang activity,” said Columbus Chief spokesperson Larry Fitzjohnson. “The area was once ruled by a notorious street gang known as the Short North Posse. Now, it’s the Short North Bussy that controls the area.”
“Bussy” or “boy pussy,” is an LGBT slang term for the male anus or a transmasculine person’s vulva.
Once known as a bohemian arts district, the Short North has undergone a dramatic transformation over the past two decades. A string of development brought commercial office space, luxury apartments, and dozens of bars and restaurants to the area.
The result has been a long-simmering power struggle over control of the neighborhood’s illegal rackets. Established gangs such as the Short North Bussy are now fighting off interlopers, many from the nearby Milo-Grogan, Weinland Park, and Linden neighborhoods.
A person familiar with the Short North Bussy says the gang prefers a non-violent approach, but old methods are proving ineffective.
“They used to scare off rivals by blowing them a kiss, maybe flashing a little ass cheek or grabbing their balls and licking their lips, stuff like that,” the person said. “Today, rival gangs are more likely to be turned on by that behavior than to be scared off. Even forced socialization and talk therapy, which used to be the final straw, isn’t working anymore. The gang would take a guy into an alley and get him to open up and share his life story. He used to go kicking and screaming and run away when it was over; now he’ll break down crying for his father and start shooting. So they have had to resort to guns like everybody else.”
A spokesperson for the Milo Deez Crips, a rival gang from the Milo-Grogan neighborhood, says his crew refuses to back down from the Bussy.
“We adaptin’ out here. They be gay and shit, so now we a little gay and shit,” the spokesperson said, asking to remain anonymous out of fears for his safety. “They try to pick us up or befriend us, get us talkin’ bout growin’ up hard, so we play along, suck them off or tickle they ass or whatever, and then we rob em’. Whatever we have to do, we doin’. It’s Milo Deez, nigga. It’s our time now.”
Shootings in the Short North are up 200% from a year prior, with six incidents alone in the past two months. More violence is expected.
“The Queen of Queens (as the leader of the Short North Bussy is known) isn’t going to let up until the neighborhood is gay and firmly under his control,” Fitzjohnson said.
