Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Crime Gay Bashing in the Central District
Posted by Dominic Holden on Tue, Feb 24, 2009 at 4:19 PM
As bars gave last call on Saturday night, a man in his early 40s was walking home through the Central District when two men, unprovoked, attacked him. According to a police report, a responding officer said the man "had fresh injuries to his right eye, mouth, chin, nose, and hands.… I also observed that his all white clothing was splattered with numerous drops of blood.” The man told the officer “he was assaulted because of his sexual orientation.”
According to the report, the man was wearing a white sailor suit on the rainy night. After attending Gay Bingo downtown, he went to Bus Stop, the bar on Olive Way, and left with a friend around 1 a.m. The two parted ways and the man continued walking home alone.
While walking east on East Columbia Street, near the intersection of 13th Avenue—a block from Seattle University—a male voice yelled the word “faggot.” A second man then yelled, “Where the fuck are you coming from?” The man did not turn around. He was proceeding up the sidewalk when the two men attacked him from behind.
The suspects “began to punch him over and over about the head and the body,” the police report says. “The two male suspects repeatedly yelled the word ‘faggot’ throughout the duration of the assault,” the report continues. Then the man “fell to the sidewalk where he subsequently received numerous kicks to his torso.”
From the ground, the man began to fight back. He landed several “good kicks” and one “good punch,” he reportedly told police, before the suspects fled the scene. He described the attackers as Caucasian men in their 20s and said they smelled strongly of marijuana.
The man didn’t call police officers for a few hours after the attack because he was “processing what had happened,” he told police. He says a friend convinced him to report the assault.
The officer searched the crime scene. “Given the delay and rainy weather,” the officer’s report concludes, “it is likely that any blood evidence had already washed away.”
Coincidentally, there’s a vigil scheduled in response to a “recent upsurge in hate crimes against members of LGBTQ community” this Saturday, February 28 from 8:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the pillars on Boren Avenue and Pike Street. The organizers, Queer Ally Coalition, write on the vigil's Facebook page, “We would like to invite you to light a candle for the people who have fallen victim to hate crimes in our community and throughout the rest of the country.”
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2
I thought pot heads didn't commit violent crimes like all those other drug users and alcoholics. I thought pot was a "harmless" drug compared to alcohol. People who smoke marijuana aren't ever violent...etc etc etc...
4
my first instinct is to blame pot but isnt the real culprit dominic holden for making everyone want to get high in the first place and teaching them its ok to get high?
5
If pot played a factor in the assault at all, it probably slowed down the assholes' reaction times enough to let the victim get some kicks in. It's not really a relevant detail.
6
You know, if I hear about one more attack being countered with a candlelight vigil, and an online community gathering, I'm going to vomit my faggy guts up. How about taking to the streets with some torches and pitchforks and flushing out the useless gay-bashing trash that brings this shit on? Wanna have a revolution? It isn't going to be on a website.
8
uh, I'm with tired fag, up to a point...instead of lameass vigils, or pitchforks, how about creating a group to patrol the Hill on the weekend?
I'm in.
I'm in.
9
Good thing they weren't attacking men wearing teal, like I was walking home last night.
@3 for the win, @6 for the insight. What ever happened to Q Patrol? they used to be everywhere.
@3 for the win, @6 for the insight. What ever happened to Q Patrol? they used to be everywhere.
10
Drive a paddy-wagon up and down Pike/Pike and kidnap anyone you see wearing a polyblend striped button-up. Drop them back off at 2nd and Bell.
Works for urban wildlife problems...
Works for urban wildlife problems...
11
I totally saw him at the Bus Stop (he's a friend) and it just pisses me off that this shit happens when the cowards outnumber the victims.
17
@16: You still didn't get it right. It's "Join the Navy and fellate a man... and another and another."
20
I agree with previous posters. Please explain how a vigil is the appropriate response? Like te bashers will take notice and refrain from bashing the next guy.
We need to make sure the police take these incidents seriously, perhaps increase patrols, and/or the prosecution (assuming these guys are caught)throw the books at them.
We need to make sure the police take these incidents seriously, perhaps increase patrols, and/or the prosecution (assuming these guys are caught)throw the books at them.
21
@ 6, 7, 8 - I agree 100%, I'm sick of this candlelight vigil, "we are angry, gentle people, and we're singing for our lives" shit. STOP BEING VICTIMY!!!! It's not helpful to the cause of ending gay-bashing, and just perpetuates the stereotype of gay men as weak and helpless.
I am not helpless. If I wanted to, I can buy a .22 and get solid handgun training (maybe from the good folks at Pink Pistols, a GLBT gun owners group). No need for anything bigger, no need to splatter any brains, a .22 slug in the kneecap will immobilize most anyone, and will mess your knee up for a LONG TIME. And if I lived on the other side of the river in OR, I can get a concealed handgun permit.
I know, I know, invoking the spectre of guns gets the peace-and-flowers crowd (who are on our side, BTW) all freaked out. But we're not talking "Death Wish" here, just the legal right to defend oneself. You'd probably never have to fire the thing, anyway, just pull it out and point it at the first shout of "Faggot!" Even for a brain-dead gay basher, it's basic human instinct to walk the other way when someone's pointing a gun at you.
That's what I call self-empowerment.
I am not helpless. If I wanted to, I can buy a .22 and get solid handgun training (maybe from the good folks at Pink Pistols, a GLBT gun owners group). No need for anything bigger, no need to splatter any brains, a .22 slug in the kneecap will immobilize most anyone, and will mess your knee up for a LONG TIME. And if I lived on the other side of the river in OR, I can get a concealed handgun permit.
I know, I know, invoking the spectre of guns gets the peace-and-flowers crowd (who are on our side, BTW) all freaked out. But we're not talking "Death Wish" here, just the legal right to defend oneself. You'd probably never have to fire the thing, anyway, just pull it out and point it at the first shout of "Faggot!" Even for a brain-dead gay basher, it's basic human instinct to walk the other way when someone's pointing a gun at you.
That's what I call self-empowerment.
22
I'm not sure lighting candles and singing kumbaya is going to be terribly effective in deterring the kind of brain-dead asshats that would commit this type of atrocity. Armed Q patrols on the other hand...
23
@ 21 - Can the police magically heal broken bones after you've been bashed?
Realistically, the legal system isn't able to create much of a disincentive for a potential basher to bash. It's just like with any other crime, really: increasing prosecution and penalties for, say, child molestation hasn't made it a less common crime, has it?
On the other hand, having a gun pointed at you is going to make you think twice when your bud calls up and says, "Hey, let's go down to Capitol Hill and beat up some fags!"
Realistically, the legal system isn't able to create much of a disincentive for a potential basher to bash. It's just like with any other crime, really: increasing prosecution and penalties for, say, child molestation hasn't made it a less common crime, has it?
On the other hand, having a gun pointed at you is going to make you think twice when your bud calls up and says, "Hey, let's go down to Capitol Hill and beat up some fags!"
24
I've never been physically bashed, BTW. But I HAVE gotten the "Faggot!" part, when I happened to be frenching a guy on the sidewalk in a distinctly not-gay part of Portland a couple of years ago. My response? A defiant one-finger salute.
25
Three words: Concealed carry permit.
We enable our own victimization. How many dead and beaten faggots is enough?
We enable our own victimization. How many dead and beaten faggots is enough?
26
To Chris Down in the Couv:
Seriously, a .22 is useless unless you're defending yourself against a rodent. If you shoot someone with something that small and they're all hopped up on anger and hate, they may not even notice. And forget about hitting someone in the kneecap. Even at close range, no one's aim is that good under stress.
Get a minimum of a .38 special in a revolver, or a 9mm or .40 cal in a semi-auto.
Seriously, a .22 is useless unless you're defending yourself against a rodent. If you shoot someone with something that small and they're all hopped up on anger and hate, they may not even notice. And forget about hitting someone in the kneecap. Even at close range, no one's aim is that good under stress.
Get a minimum of a .38 special in a revolver, or a 9mm or .40 cal in a semi-auto.
27
Thank you for the info, PatrickPatrick. I was thinking about weight, and the inconvenience of carrying a relatively heavy gun around all evening long. (Seriously.) Also, I think in the vast majority of cases, the scare factor of having a gun, any gun, pointed at you would be sufficient to scare the little shits off.
28
Also, I mentioned the kneecap just for effect. A solid hit anywhere in the legs would be fine by me.
30
Hey, tired fag, get off your lazy ass and DO what you're criticizing others for doing. We need fewer self-righteous fags criticizing everyone else and more acting like leaders. If you're NOT full of shit, you should do more than simply bitch online anonymously... Hey, isn't that exactly what you're bitching ABOUT?
31
Folks, this incident has NOTHING to do with the fact these bashers were stoned. It has everything to do with the fact that every time there is an anti-gay initiative or law passed AND when lgbt organizations do not clearly and loudly speak out and organize AGAINST homophobia wherever and whenever it raises its ugly face, there is a rise in anti-lgbt hate crimes. Yeah, really.
http://socialistworker.org/2009/01/19/an…
National [1]
Behind the wave of anti-gay hate crimes
Jessica Hansen-Weaver reports on an increase in anti-gay hate crimes, and the connections to bigoted political initiatives like California's Proposition 8.
January 19, 2009
LBGT PEOPLE and their supporters, who have turned out in large numbers to protest the narrow passage of the anti-gay Proposition 8 in California, are turning their attention to increasing incidents of horrifying hate crimes.
On December 13, in the Bay Area city of Richmond, a lesbian woman was gang-raped by four men who used homophobic epithets as they violently assaulted her for almost an hour, before leaving her naked in the street.
The vicious attack began when four men jumped her after she got out of her car, which had a rainbow sticker on it, clubbed her with a blunt object, disrobed her and began raping her. When a passerby almost stumbled on them during the rape, they bundled the woman into her car and took her to an abandoned building, where the sexual attack continued, until the men finally left her naked, and badly injured.
Despite nearly zero national news coverage, some 200 people came out to a candlelight vigil December 27 to show their solidarity with the woman and her partner. Public outrage and community pressure on Richmond law enforcement resulted in arrests for those responsible for this heinous attack.
Activists note that anti-gay hate crimes are on the rise nationally. According to FBI statistics, hate crimes directed at people because of their sexual orientation have risen over the past two years--1,017 were reported in 2005, 1,195 in 2006 and 1,265 in 2007.
Because not all states allow attacks motivated by anti-gay bias to be charged as hate crimes and because some victims are reluctant to reveal their sexual orientations to police, gay and transgender rights advocates suspect the numbers are much higher.
Avy Skolnik, a coordinator with the New York-based National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, noted, "Anytime there is an anti-LGBT initiative, we tend to see spikes both in the numbers and the severity of attacks. People feel this extra entitlement to act out their prejudice."
In 2008 alone, there was a spike in violent crime against LGBT people. Overall, the FBI reported a 1 percent decline in hate crimes in the U.S. last year--but a 6 percent increase in hate crimes against gay, lesbian and transgender people.
In the past few months, shocking murders were reported across the country--from Brooklyn in New York City, to Memphis, Tenn., and other cities.
In December, in Brooklyn, a 31-year-old Ecuadorian immigrant, Jose Sucuzhanay, was beaten with a baseball bat and kicked by three men, who jumped out of a car yelling anti-gay and anti-Hispanic slurs.
Angie Zapata, an 18-year-old transgender woman in Greeley, Colo., was found dead in her apartment on July 17. She had been beaten with fists and a fire extinguisher, after her assailant discovered she was biologically male.
On December 23, Leeneshia Edwards became the third transgender shooting victim in Memphis over the past six months--she remains in critical condition. Her shooting followed the murders of Duanna Johnson and Ebony Whitaker, transgender women who also worked as prostitutes.
A video of Johnson being beaten and taunted by police in June was widely circulated on the Internet before she was murdered in November. As transgender activist Casey Lanham points out, many transgender people turn to prostitution because of discriminatory hiring practices against them.
On January 6, 11 gay bars in Seattle received letters addressed to the "Owner/Manager" that warned, "Your establishment has been targeted. I have in my possession approximately 67 grams of ricin with which I will indiscriminately target at least five of your clients." A 12th letter was sent to the alternative weekly, The Stranger, warning that the paper should be "prepared to announce the deaths of approximately 55 individuals."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SO WHY has there been such a spike in in violent crimes against LGBT people?
Society at large has moved in the direction of supporting LGBT rights, as ideas around sexuality have moved to the left in the past decade. One example of this is the fact that in 2004, the anti-gay Prop 22 in California won by a 14 point margin as opposed to the 4 percent margin of Prop 8.
However, as the trend of tolerance and acceptance has been increasing, so has the growth of right-wing religious organizations that have focused on getting anti-gay legislation passed across the U.S.
To make matters worse, these backward ideas about gender and sexuality aren't being opposed in the way they should by the Democratic Party, which has failed to support the right to equal marriage today and, in the past, worked against it, as with the passage of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) during the Clinton administration.
Prop 8 and similar legislation not only deny civil rights to gays and lesbians, but they give a green light to violent attacks against LGBT people. Anti-gay legislation gives credence to the idea that LGBT people are "immoral," "unequal" and don't deserve protection from hate. And the silence of politicians like Barack Obama on repealing DOMA gives a free pass to the homophobia expressed in legislation like Prop 8.
And when Obama asks someone like Rick Warren--who has compared gay and lesbian people to pedophiles and perpetrators of incest--to deliver the invocation at his inauguration, he's giving an international platform to a hate-monger.
No person who identifies as LGBT should live in fear of violent crime. As long as LGBT people are relegated to second-class citizenship, some people will feel justified in treating them abusively. They are shaped by a society that continues to teach that it is permissible to exclude and hate anyone who does not conform to traditional gender stereotypes.
These horrifying stories of hate crimes magnify the importance of why an organized response to both legislative and physical attacks is the way forward. It will take a struggle to fight back against homophobia wherever it raises its ugly head--and to demand nothing less than full civil rights for all. The flurry of protest that took place in cities around the country after Prop 8 passed shows what is possible.
More...
http://socialistworker.org/2009/01/19/an…
National [1]
Behind the wave of anti-gay hate crimes
Jessica Hansen-Weaver reports on an increase in anti-gay hate crimes, and the connections to bigoted political initiatives like California's Proposition 8.
January 19, 2009
LBGT PEOPLE and their supporters, who have turned out in large numbers to protest the narrow passage of the anti-gay Proposition 8 in California, are turning their attention to increasing incidents of horrifying hate crimes.
On December 13, in the Bay Area city of Richmond, a lesbian woman was gang-raped by four men who used homophobic epithets as they violently assaulted her for almost an hour, before leaving her naked in the street.
The vicious attack began when four men jumped her after she got out of her car, which had a rainbow sticker on it, clubbed her with a blunt object, disrobed her and began raping her. When a passerby almost stumbled on them during the rape, they bundled the woman into her car and took her to an abandoned building, where the sexual attack continued, until the men finally left her naked, and badly injured.
Despite nearly zero national news coverage, some 200 people came out to a candlelight vigil December 27 to show their solidarity with the woman and her partner. Public outrage and community pressure on Richmond law enforcement resulted in arrests for those responsible for this heinous attack.
Activists note that anti-gay hate crimes are on the rise nationally. According to FBI statistics, hate crimes directed at people because of their sexual orientation have risen over the past two years--1,017 were reported in 2005, 1,195 in 2006 and 1,265 in 2007.
Because not all states allow attacks motivated by anti-gay bias to be charged as hate crimes and because some victims are reluctant to reveal their sexual orientations to police, gay and transgender rights advocates suspect the numbers are much higher.
Avy Skolnik, a coordinator with the New York-based National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, noted, "Anytime there is an anti-LGBT initiative, we tend to see spikes both in the numbers and the severity of attacks. People feel this extra entitlement to act out their prejudice."
In 2008 alone, there was a spike in violent crime against LGBT people. Overall, the FBI reported a 1 percent decline in hate crimes in the U.S. last year--but a 6 percent increase in hate crimes against gay, lesbian and transgender people.
In the past few months, shocking murders were reported across the country--from Brooklyn in New York City, to Memphis, Tenn., and other cities.
In December, in Brooklyn, a 31-year-old Ecuadorian immigrant, Jose Sucuzhanay, was beaten with a baseball bat and kicked by three men, who jumped out of a car yelling anti-gay and anti-Hispanic slurs.
Angie Zapata, an 18-year-old transgender woman in Greeley, Colo., was found dead in her apartment on July 17. She had been beaten with fists and a fire extinguisher, after her assailant discovered she was biologically male.
On December 23, Leeneshia Edwards became the third transgender shooting victim in Memphis over the past six months--she remains in critical condition. Her shooting followed the murders of Duanna Johnson and Ebony Whitaker, transgender women who also worked as prostitutes.
A video of Johnson being beaten and taunted by police in June was widely circulated on the Internet before she was murdered in November. As transgender activist Casey Lanham points out, many transgender people turn to prostitution because of discriminatory hiring practices against them.
On January 6, 11 gay bars in Seattle received letters addressed to the "Owner/Manager" that warned, "Your establishment has been targeted. I have in my possession approximately 67 grams of ricin with which I will indiscriminately target at least five of your clients." A 12th letter was sent to the alternative weekly, The Stranger, warning that the paper should be "prepared to announce the deaths of approximately 55 individuals."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SO WHY has there been such a spike in in violent crimes against LGBT people?
Society at large has moved in the direction of supporting LGBT rights, as ideas around sexuality have moved to the left in the past decade. One example of this is the fact that in 2004, the anti-gay Prop 22 in California won by a 14 point margin as opposed to the 4 percent margin of Prop 8.
However, as the trend of tolerance and acceptance has been increasing, so has the growth of right-wing religious organizations that have focused on getting anti-gay legislation passed across the U.S.
To make matters worse, these backward ideas about gender and sexuality aren't being opposed in the way they should by the Democratic Party, which has failed to support the right to equal marriage today and, in the past, worked against it, as with the passage of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) during the Clinton administration.
Prop 8 and similar legislation not only deny civil rights to gays and lesbians, but they give a green light to violent attacks against LGBT people. Anti-gay legislation gives credence to the idea that LGBT people are "immoral," "unequal" and don't deserve protection from hate. And the silence of politicians like Barack Obama on repealing DOMA gives a free pass to the homophobia expressed in legislation like Prop 8.
And when Obama asks someone like Rick Warren--who has compared gay and lesbian people to pedophiles and perpetrators of incest--to deliver the invocation at his inauguration, he's giving an international platform to a hate-monger.
No person who identifies as LGBT should live in fear of violent crime. As long as LGBT people are relegated to second-class citizenship, some people will feel justified in treating them abusively. They are shaped by a society that continues to teach that it is permissible to exclude and hate anyone who does not conform to traditional gender stereotypes.
These horrifying stories of hate crimes magnify the importance of why an organized response to both legislative and physical attacks is the way forward. It will take a struggle to fight back against homophobia wherever it raises its ugly head--and to demand nothing less than full civil rights for all. The flurry of protest that took place in cities around the country after Prop 8 passed shows what is possible.
32
A vigil: 1) informs the community. Fact is, a lot of people still don't know about the gay bashings on our streets. Not everyone reads the papers. 2) creates an opportunity to discuss HOW we should organize to respond to these incidents, which is why the Seattle Commission for Sexual Minorities is speaking about what they're doing and they're work with the Seattle Police Department and Gay City to better know what's going on and where so we can develop a strategy to stop it before it happens. 3) After getting our asses kicked by Prop 8, we need to build confidence in our community that we CAN fight back and win against bigotry. 4) It allows people who DON'T JUST SIT AND BITCH ON THE SLOG TO BEGIN TO PLAY AN ACTIVE ROLE IN ENDING THEIR OWN OPPRESSION. Those who whine are invited to remain in front of their computers and continue to be irrelevant.
33
Every single person who came here to post a message simply to criticize: I challenge you. Come up with your own response and make it work.
Chris down in The Couv
Geni
tired fag
Make yourselves relevant. Seriously. Put down the bong and become a part of changing the world. No cynicism, no pathetic bitchiness, no self-loathsome attacks on the efforts of others when you're not doing anything yourselves. Yeah, I know it's really hard to act like a productive adult and work to build solutions to problems, but sometimes it's time to grow up and actually do something.
I also challenge you to stand on the sidewalks as we march past. Look around at the people beside you and ask them how they feel seeing people stand up for their rights. The bars have responded very positively. I guess only a very small irrelevant minority thinks otherwise.
Chris down in The Couv
Geni
tired fag
Make yourselves relevant. Seriously. Put down the bong and become a part of changing the world. No cynicism, no pathetic bitchiness, no self-loathsome attacks on the efforts of others when you're not doing anything yourselves. Yeah, I know it's really hard to act like a productive adult and work to build solutions to problems, but sometimes it's time to grow up and actually do something.
I also challenge you to stand on the sidewalks as we march past. Look around at the people beside you and ask them how they feel seeing people stand up for their rights. The bars have responded very positively. I guess only a very small irrelevant minority thinks otherwise.
34
Armchair, in my career, I have been out in a non-gay work environment (and sometimes in a downright hostile environment) for THE LAST 13 YEARS, a total of 5 jobs with 5 different sets of co-workers. Not preaching, just educating my straight male co-workers by example that gay people are just folks. It hasn't always been easy (almost got fired once), but it's been very rewarding.
So don't you DARE say I haven't been doing anything, bitch.
Fuck you and the rainbow you rode in on. I don't need it.
So don't you DARE say I haven't been doing anything, bitch.
Fuck you and the rainbow you rode in on. I don't need it.
35
It's easy to march in a pride parade, Armchair, with everyone smiling and cheering you on.
It's a hell of a lot tougher trying to do your job and maintain your dignity with a half dozen straight guys looking at you funny for 8 hours a day.
It's a hell of a lot tougher trying to do your job and maintain your dignity with a half dozen straight guys looking at you funny for 8 hours a day.
36
A 60-year-old woman was also attacked in the CD, unprovoked, mid-day on 2/14. Don't know queer/straight/white/black/other. Just that she was 60, walking on Yesler, and minding her own business. WTF is wrong with people.
http://www.centraldistrictnews.com/2009/…
http://www.centraldistrictnews.com/2009/…
37
@Lonnie: I'm going to respectfully disagree. Hold a vigil if it makes you feel better, but I sincerely doubt it will make any change in levels of violence.
I think this increase in violence is due to the steadily degenerating economic system. As the situation worsens, we will see more hate crimes directed at the more vulnerable members of society (gays, women, the elderly) as well as more muggings/assaults.
If we want to stop crime we need to improve society, increase the police presence, and protect ourselves -- whether that's Q Patrol, driving friends home, or (not my favorite option) packing heat.
I think this increase in violence is due to the steadily degenerating economic system. As the situation worsens, we will see more hate crimes directed at the more vulnerable members of society (gays, women, the elderly) as well as more muggings/assaults.
If we want to stop crime we need to improve society, increase the police presence, and protect ourselves -- whether that's Q Patrol, driving friends home, or (not my favorite option) packing heat.
38
This story makes me angry.
Gay bashing makes me feel sick and sad. This has become a real problem in society especialy in schools. I wish I could help do something about it. I'm bisexual and comming out to my friends and family was so hard. Some of my friends ignored me and some people i didn't even know very well verbaly and physicaly abused me. I'm only 14 and all i want to do right now is help people who are comming out and help prevent gay bashing. If someone could tell me how i'd really appreciate it. My e-mail is sinful.eve@hotmail.com
Gay bashing makes me feel sick and sad. This has become a real problem in society especialy in schools. I wish I could help do something about it. I'm bisexual and comming out to my friends and family was so hard. Some of my friends ignored me and some people i didn't even know very well verbaly and physicaly abused me. I'm only 14 and all i want to do right now is help people who are comming out and help prevent gay bashing. If someone could tell me how i'd really appreciate it. My e-mail is sinful.eve@hotmail.com
39
I am definately w/ Tired Fag on this comment. It is about time we start looking out for OUR selves.
I am definately w/ Tired Fag on this comment. It is about time we start looking out for OUR selves.
40
OUTRAGED. I grew up in the deep south, outraged at voilence against blacks, Latinos, and now, up in the Pac NW, there is violence against gays. Unbelievable. I confess; I am white, and I am straight. I have also taught sociology and I just became a lawyer. I'm afraid that some of the other comments are true -- as the economy gets worse, expect more hate violence, against all minorities. If there is someone to blame for making gays one of the targeted minorities, look to the so-called "religious" groups, where the self-loathing pedophile preachers have objectified homosexuality as a symbol of all they hate. The congregations blindly and thoughtlessly say a-men. They did the same to the blacks, and that discrimination has only subsided after a couple generations of increasingly progressive laws. (Cognitive Dissonance notion). That's what we have to fight in the long term -- you cannot argue people out of their hate, because it is irrational -- it is not logical, it is psycho-logical. In the short term, I would support and be a part of a Q-patrol. Being armed could invite an escalation of violence, but I know for me personally, I would want to pack heat if I were gay and alone downtown at night.
41
Perhaps we should ask Sloggers In Charge why we've hardly heard a peep about this vigil (flyers have been up for weeks) when back when the Big Marriage March was being planned they gave it quite a lot of coverage and support...
42
Okay everyone. There is no easy answer to any of this. Cruel people that have been that way all there lives and raised that prejudice and bigotry are an acceptable form of behavior will be around for a long time to come. The most powerful people in this country that control most of the decision making and have most of the wealth are heavily populated with the "Good Ole Boys Club" so we won't see much help there. And it's definitely not the pot issue, that was just a coincidence, and may have not even been a true fact, but if you've ever known a pot smoker they are predominantly not violent.
Violence is not the answer, though in theory it sounds good. If you have to lower yourself to their violent level and start "packing", well, then you've lost as well. A vigil is not really to force change as well, as we all know the only people that pay attention to these are the people that don't need to change. This is really for those that need support and need to heal, and this is very necessary for a lot of folks to move on after something this horrible, so don't demean this process as it is helping in it's own way.
The answer is actually fairly easy. END THE VIOLENCE. It has to become humanly unacceptable for another human being to act violently toward another. Now, getting my head out of my "PollyAnna" world, I realize we're far from ever having that. That being said I will make an even more outrageous proposition that if we could ever pull this off would make life a hell of a lot more enjoyable for those in the LGBT community and friends and family thereof.
LET'S MAKE QUEER STRIKE A REALITY!!! And not just for a day, but for good. It's not just LGBT community members but thousands of good hard working people that are fed up with all the violence and living their lives in constant fear. This would take extreme organization but I for one am willing to start it if I felt enough support would make it happen. If this country full of hateful ignorant people feel they can do without us, then fine, let's leave them. Can you imagine if thousands of us got together and organized our own community or town (kind of like PTown already is). We had our own little businesses and entertainment and housing, and the community was developed with security to keep non members out. I know there are plenty of wealthy people in Hollywood circles and Technology and Medical circles that if they became part of this movement and take a risk it would seriously work.
Imagine that, a great place to live where members that have proved themselves can live in peace! I know it's a bit out there, and the obvious better option would be for the rest of the world to just stop hating so we can all live in peace together, but I don't see that as much more of a reality than this idea. Rosie O'Donnell has basically figured this one out, have you seen her compound? Keeping everyone together in numbers and just accepting that you don't have to be able to live every single place to actually have freedom. I for one would give up having the entire US as a place to live if I could pick just one that I knew was filled with non violent tolerant people all trying to just build a better life. (Europeans figured this out centuries ago and it's still working today, go visit any of their thousands of tiny villages and see how they all stay local and work together, and seem very happy and peaceful). Imagine not having to spend 75% of your day entering passwords, security codes, keys and every other security measure we perform every day, simply because we can't trust each other.
Let the hate mongers live without us. Soon they will have no movies, no theatre, no airlines, no nurses, no designers, no Bravo, No HGTV, no Dynasty Rerun Parties, and no major theme parks. Eventually their world will turn to crap or they will realize how valuable we all are and change their attitudes. In the meantime it would sure be nice to live and work in peace, and actually have to time to truly care about each other.
I know a lot of people will look at this as total fluff, but until an idea like this is taken seriously I just don't see the change happening that is needed. Until there are actual severe consequences people like this won't change. Violence is never the answer as a sever consequence, but denying them our presence and valuableness is a great answer.
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Violence is not the answer, though in theory it sounds good. If you have to lower yourself to their violent level and start "packing", well, then you've lost as well. A vigil is not really to force change as well, as we all know the only people that pay attention to these are the people that don't need to change. This is really for those that need support and need to heal, and this is very necessary for a lot of folks to move on after something this horrible, so don't demean this process as it is helping in it's own way.
The answer is actually fairly easy. END THE VIOLENCE. It has to become humanly unacceptable for another human being to act violently toward another. Now, getting my head out of my "PollyAnna" world, I realize we're far from ever having that. That being said I will make an even more outrageous proposition that if we could ever pull this off would make life a hell of a lot more enjoyable for those in the LGBT community and friends and family thereof.
LET'S MAKE QUEER STRIKE A REALITY!!! And not just for a day, but for good. It's not just LGBT community members but thousands of good hard working people that are fed up with all the violence and living their lives in constant fear. This would take extreme organization but I for one am willing to start it if I felt enough support would make it happen. If this country full of hateful ignorant people feel they can do without us, then fine, let's leave them. Can you imagine if thousands of us got together and organized our own community or town (kind of like PTown already is). We had our own little businesses and entertainment and housing, and the community was developed with security to keep non members out. I know there are plenty of wealthy people in Hollywood circles and Technology and Medical circles that if they became part of this movement and take a risk it would seriously work.
Imagine that, a great place to live where members that have proved themselves can live in peace! I know it's a bit out there, and the obvious better option would be for the rest of the world to just stop hating so we can all live in peace together, but I don't see that as much more of a reality than this idea. Rosie O'Donnell has basically figured this one out, have you seen her compound? Keeping everyone together in numbers and just accepting that you don't have to be able to live every single place to actually have freedom. I for one would give up having the entire US as a place to live if I could pick just one that I knew was filled with non violent tolerant people all trying to just build a better life. (Europeans figured this out centuries ago and it's still working today, go visit any of their thousands of tiny villages and see how they all stay local and work together, and seem very happy and peaceful). Imagine not having to spend 75% of your day entering passwords, security codes, keys and every other security measure we perform every day, simply because we can't trust each other.
Let the hate mongers live without us. Soon they will have no movies, no theatre, no airlines, no nurses, no designers, no Bravo, No HGTV, no Dynasty Rerun Parties, and no major theme parks. Eventually their world will turn to crap or they will realize how valuable we all are and change their attitudes. In the meantime it would sure be nice to live and work in peace, and actually have to time to truly care about each other.
I know a lot of people will look at this as total fluff, but until an idea like this is taken seriously I just don't see the change happening that is needed. Until there are actual severe consequences people like this won't change. Violence is never the answer as a sever consequence, but denying them our presence and valuableness is a great answer.
43
i'm sick of this world being ran by cowardly men, men whom are afraid of their own sexuality, this is a disgrace what has happened again and again to the gay community, i don't see any gay person going out and kicking someone's ass based on their sexuality, just leave us alone, i am a lesbian, i have been targeted, oddly enough what sounds to be the same kind of guys whom did this terrible thing to one of our own. grow up you cowardly children and stay in your own bars and leave us the hell alone.
44
Please, this is not a case for everyone to grab a gun and run around with their scared finger on the trigger. How about we don't have everyone running around with guns just because we are all afraid of each other?
45
man, i feel so bad for victims of gay-bashing. i fucking hate this shit. homophobes are fucking cowards and i'd like to see them on the recieving end. BUT that doesnt make it any more right so meh.
i do agree that something needs to be done about it, but guns are a bit too far.
i'd rather not join an argument between angry adults but i thought i should have my say too. >
i do agree that something needs to be done about it, but guns are a bit too far.
i'd rather not join an argument between angry adults but i thought i should have my say too. >
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