The arrests, convictions and sentencing of the four men linked to the San Diego LGBT Pride beatings – all done within 90 days of the attacks – is simply amazing.

It didn’t happen because no one cares about gay bashing. The opposite is true, and it sends a message to others who think they will get a high-five from police and prosecutors for beating up gays and lesbians.

First, thank the victims for having the courage to report the beatings even though they risked being “outed” in more ways than the obvious.

Second, thank Police Chief William Lansdowne for making it a priority to track down the men responsible for the beatings. His officers produced suspects in record time.

Third, thank City Councilmember Toni Atkins and Mayor Jerry Sanders for making it a priority for the city to find the attackers and bring them to justice.

But, most importantly, thank the work of District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and her staff of deputy district attorneys and investigators. Probably because she’s a Republican, Bonnie gets little credit for all the things she has accomplished for our community. Her handling of this case makes it clear that Bonnie is an Abraham Lincoln Republican.

Just a few years back, in 1986, police and prosecutors could have treated these brutal attacks as simple misdemeanors and not worthy of the resources devoted here, 20 years later.

Today state (but not federal) laws make hate crimes against gays and lesbians felonies, requiring judges to impose jail sentences.

The police force is more sensitive to GLBT hate crimes because there are openly GLBT persons serving in the force. It started more than a decade ago when John Graham and Rick Edgil came out. Now SDPD undertakes efforts to screen out homophobes, and it provides diversity training so that officers can see that their partners in law enforcement are openly gay and lesbian.

The D.A. of San Diego is a lesbian and so is the fire chief. Openly gay Judge-elect David Rubin prosecuted a man for killing a cop and won a death penalty conviction. In the high-profile case involving football player Steve Foley and the assault of an off-duty cop, Bonnie assigned her top prosecutor, James Koerber, who is openly gay, to handle the case.

Police unions supported Bonnie Dumanis, David Rubin and Toni Atkins because gays and lesbians are not their enemies. It’s pretty clear that the GLBT community is one of the strongest allies police officers have.

But the big difference in this case wasn’t just police work, it has been Bonnie Dumanis. A former judge, Bonnie has restored credibility and integrity to the District Attorney’s Office. A few years ago, under her predecessor, it was not unusual to read about prosecutors arranging for jailhouse informants to receive “sexual” favors in exchange for favorable testimony.

As I have noted here in the past, gay cases still require special sensitivity. This hate crime case could easily have turned into an ugly mess of a trial, mainly because it is not unusual in gay or transgender cases for the defendants and their attorneys to put the victims on trial. The defense caters to the very worst prejudices that some straight jurors have held against gay men for years.

It wouldn’t have surprised me to see the defendants claim that the gay men they attacked had made sexual advances toward them – and that, thankfully, they had baseball bats to beat them all off. After all, they could have been raped. And the 15-year-old? Those gays were out to molest him.

And as stupid as all this sounds, we all know that it’s that kind of prejudice that still exists in policies like “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (“gay soldiers won’t be able to control themselves in the showers with straight men present.”).

We also know the truth. We all know of thousands of gays and lesbians who have served in the military. And, in reviewing the thousands of sexual assault claims in the military and in military academies, I have yet to see one case where a man sexually assaulted another man in a shower.

Forget about logic; emotion tied to prejudice is something this country is still learning about.

Meanwhile, thankfully, there is a lesbian D.A. who can make it clear to defendants and their defense lawyers that anti-gay bias is unacceptable. She will prosecute cases to the max, with no expense spared.

After all, a hate crime case involves our city and the GLBT community.

When the media reports on the swiftness of justice and the severity of the punishment, it sends a message to the would-be attackers: Don’t screw with gays and lesbians.