Libby Post has a good column that looks at how little some things have changed in the nearly ten years since Matthew Shepherd was murderd in terms of violence against gays. Similarly, Fight Out Loud released a statement today that looks at just how common place anti-gay messages are and the danger that such messages create for law abiding gay citizens. I have even experienced harrassment myself from local police officers no less no doubt encouraged by the anti-gay message dellivered by anti-gay pastors. Since Libby Post's and Fight Out Loud's views echo my own and I beleive merit repeating. Here are highlights from Libby Post's column (http://www.wamc.org/commentators-post.html):
When it comes to hate related crimes against the LGBT community not much has changed in the past ten years. We're still the bull's eye for the hate mongers perverted game of darts. A few weeks back in Oxnard, California, Lawrence King was gunned down for being openly gay. What makes this story so heartbreaking is that King was 15. His assailant, Brandon McInerney, was only 14. McInerney's intent couldn't be any clearer-he wanted to kill the 15 year old who was openly gay and challenged the gender stereotype that adolescents hold so dear.
King was not only out but he had started wearing mascara, lipstick and jewelry to school. Not your typical garb for a 15 year old boy. Despite the bullying he received from a group of guys, including the shooter, who couldn't wrap their heads around King's presentation, he was proud of who he was and wouldn't change his persona so that others around him would be more comfortable.
King was the victim of hate and homophobia. So is McInerney. If our society wasn't so homophobic and didn't treat us like second class citizens, kids like the 14-year old McInerney wouldn't be so scared of someone who was different. And, his fear wouldn't automatically turn to hate, as it did, on that fateful day in their school's computer lab.
Just last week, another gay youth was gunned down in Ft. Lauderdale which is known on the one hand as a mecca for gay tourism and on the other hand as the community that elected Jim Naugle, an extreme homophobe, as mayor. 17 year old Simmie Williams Jr. was gunned down on the morning of February 22nd just moments after witnesses heard an argument between him and two men. Like the California teen, Williams challenged gender stereotypes. He was wearing a dress at the time of the shooting.
However, less than 24 hours later, Ft. Lauderdale resident Melbourne Brunner was just sitting in a diner, in regular clothes, eating a 3:30 a.m. breakfast with his partner. According to a police report, an unidentified man walked up to the pair and started spewing anti-gay epithets at them.
The homophobes have been winning in our country for way too long. Two terms of Bush in the White House have given those who hate us carte blanche. The FBI's 2006 hate crime statistics show an 18 percent increase in crimes based on actual or perceived sexual orientation. It took just a few weeks for two young lives to be cut short. We'll never know who they could have become. In their absence, we know what we must become-their voices telling the nation to stop the hate.
In the wake of the two incidents in Ft. Lauderdale, Fight Out Loud issued a statement (http://www.fightoutloud.org/actionalerts.html) addressing homophobia, especially that encouraged by public officials. America clearly has its own Chritian Taliban, some of whom do not hesitate to attack and kill gays. Here are some highlights:
Mayor Jim Naugle of Fort Lauderdale has once again used his office to spread fear and hate about the gay community. In the latest city newsletter, paid for by the city and available on the city’s website, Naugle again used misinformation and bigotry to paint the LGBT community as predators and a danger. This newsletter, mailed to businesses and homes across the city, was sent out on February 16, 2008, only days before both the tragic shooting of Simmie Williams Jr and the savage gay-bashing on Las Olas Blvd. We cannot deny the dangerous effects of Mayor Naugle’s words any longer.
Have we so soon forgotten when Naugle held a press conference in City Hall this summer with so-called “religious” leaders (including the paramilitary-clad director of the men's ministry at Koinonia Worship Center, Mathes Guice, who’s myspace page features the sounds of gunfire and battle) and made the call to “take back the streets of Fort Lauderdale from the homosexual community” and “transform Fort Lauderdale and Broward County into the Bible Belt of South Florida” because the LGBT community has "led the spiritual community on a collision course with Satan" (Sun-Sentinel, Sept 4, 2007). The Rev. Aaron Wiggins of Pompano also said, “This will not stand and we will stop it by any means necessary.” Both men vowed to do whatever it takes to fend off the campaign waged by “gay activists” against Naugle (Broward Times, Sept 7 2007).
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