Vigil for Lawrence King and Other Victims

The murders of Lawrence King and Simmie Williams received virtually no news media coverage in the local Norfolk area. Genreally, our news media coverage ranks somewhere between piss poor and worthless. When it comes to LGBT issues, often the reports act like we do not exist. For a metropolitan area with over 1.6 million people, one would think that we would not be such a backwater in terms of news coverage. Unfortunately, the Virginia Pilot seems to exist more to sell advertising space than to actually report on the news. Thus I was very pleased to see that there is going to be a vigil later this week in Norfolk for Lawrence King and other victims of hate crimes. Hopefully, some reporters will be at the event and it will illicit some news coverage. Here are the details for local readers:

A Day of Remembrance: Vigil for Lawrence King and Others

Norfolk, Virginia

Thursday, March 27, 2008

7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Location: Lakewood Park

1612 Willow Wood Drive

National Wingnut Coalition Urges Parents to Keep Kids Home on "Day of Silence"

With the recent murders of Lawrence King and Simmie Williams, one would think that the hate merchants of the Christian Right would at least have the decency to tone down the anti-gay rhetoric for at least a little while. However, decency and the Christianists are clearly mutually exclusive. I increasingly believe that they welcome, indeed seek to encourage, violence against gays. Even a moron should realize that their constant bad mouthing and maligning of gays leads to a dehumanization of LGBT citizens, which is the first step in making it acceptable to kill us. Their tactics are basically little different from what Hitler and the Nazis did to the Jews in the 1930’s in the lead up to the Holocaust (http://www.hatecrime.org/subpages/hitler/hitler.html). Sadly, the MSM never calls these folks what they truly are: dangerous hate-filled bigots. Here are some highlights of the venom being disseminated in advance of the National Day of Silence next month. If you go to the linked web site, note how the coverage is ironically described as “in depth, conservative, honest news and commentary.” I believe “dishonest” is the more apt adjective. I wonder whether Lawrence King and Simmie Williams would consider what happened to them to be “alleged injustice, harassment, prejudice, and discrimination?” These people are truly sick and vicious and, yes, they make me angry, particularly the ones who have made a lucrative career out of the intentional dissemination of anti-gay hatred. (http://www.michnews.com/artman/publish/article_19595.shtml):

COLUMBUS, OH -- A nationwide coalition of Christian and pro-family groups is calling for parents to keep children out of schools on Friday, April 25, 2008 — the day when thousands of middle schools, junior highs, and high schools will observe the 12th annual “National Day of Silence.” The coalition includes: Abiding Truth Ministries, American Family Association, AFA of MI, AFA of PA, Americans for Truth, Christian Information Service, Christian Civic League of Maine, Concerned Women for America, Culture Campaign, Defend the Family International, Exodus Mandate, Illinois Family Institute, Indiana Voice for the Family, Informing Christians, Liberty Counsel, MassResistance, Mission America, New Generation Christian Center, Parents' Rights' Coalition, Right March, Stephen Bennett Ministries, Values USA, Watchmen on the Walls.

Buddy Smith of American Family Association asserts, “It’s outrageous that our neighborhood schools would allow homosexual activism to intrude into the classroom. ‘Day of Silence’ is about coercing students to repudiate traditional morality. It’s time for Christian parents to draw the line — if your children will be exposed to this DOS propaganda in their school, then keep them home for the day.”

“Day of Silence” is promoted by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), a homosexual activist group that targets schools. The event is typically organized by a school’s Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) and is designed to pressure students to regard homosexual, bisexual, and transgender behavior as normal and worthy. Students and even some teachers remain silent throughout the school day, disrupting the teaching environment. Protesters wear t-shirts and hand out “speaking cards” protesting alleged injustice, harassment, prejudice, and discrimination toward “LGBT” people and their “allies.”

Explain to your children why you’re taking a stand: Homosexual behavior is not an innate identity; it is sinful and unnatural. No school should advance a physically, emotionally, and spiritually destructive sexual lifestyle to students. Encourage your church leadership to follow the bold example of Pastor Ken Hutcherson who is vocally opposing “Day of Silence” in his community in Redmond, Washington.

Violence Against Gays - Not Much Has Changed in 10 Years

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).