Alright. Since I've started this blog, I figure I might as well use it. Normally, I would post these things to Facebook, but let's take this format for a test drive, shall we?
In Ohio just after Xmas, Nathan Runkle, 24, was attacked outside of a gay club. Nathan started his own non-profit animal rights organization, Mercy for Animals, when he was 15. That organization issued a press release, stating that Runkle sustained "two facial fractures, a broken nose, a deviated septum, and severe facial bruising." You can see the rest of the press release, which includes more details on what happened, here (the man who assaulted him has not been found yet):
http://queeranimals.wordpress.com/2009/01/02/gay-animal-rights-activist-attacked
I think that it's a really sad state of affairs when my first reaction to this horrific attack was "At least he's still alive." And I can't help but think of my old friend, Mike Huckabee. For those of you who don't remember, Huckabee made the incredibly asinine statement a few months ago that gay rights aren't civil rights because not enough queers have been assaulted or killed. You can refresh your memory of that here:
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/11/18/huckabee-gay-rights
Since Huckabee made that statement, there seems to have been an upswing in violence against LGBT individuals. Perhaps some of the Huck's followers took his comments as a challenge?
If you're interested in reading more, a blogger at the Huffington Post wrote an essay discussing the attack on Nathan and other recent assaults. You can see that here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mikko-alanne/a-hate-crime-you-wont-see_b_155665.html
***
Speaking of hate crimes, in 2007, Sean William Kennedy was attacked outside of a South Carolina bar. He died from his injuries. His attacker was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, and sentenced to an extremely short prison sentence (5 years, which the judge suspended to 3... and time already served would count). You can read about that here:
http://www.foxcarolina.com/news/16570367/detail.html
When I originally posted about this on Facebook, I said "Evidently murdering a queer in South Carolina only gets you a slap on the wrist."
Well, I was wrong. It gets you even less than that.
Word came today that, thanks to South Carolina's early parole system, the man who murdered Sean Kennedy could get paroled as early as NEXT MONTH. Total time served? 8 damn months.
8 months. That's... so unbelievable to me that I don't even know what to say about it.
There's a lot of things going on here, but, honestly, I have a hard time faulting South Carolina's parole system. If that's how it works, that's how it works. What I DO have a hard time with, however, are the aspects of our society that caused a grand jury to refuse to hand down an indictment for murder for what was obviously a hate crime (after all... I don't know how much more clear-cut it can be when a person attacks a gay man while calling him a "faggot") and a judge to sentence the murderer to a ridiculously lenient sentence. That I have a problem with.
Other things that I have a problem with? A media that steadfastly ignores these crimes (although I guess I should be thankful for this, or I'd have to listen to some evangelical nut on the news talking about how queer=sin... since the media can never cover anything LGBT-related without allowing someone who believes that I'm worse than Hitler to have air time), people like Mike Huckabee (I know, I know... but he has it coming) who manage to scapegoat and then marginalize a whole community of people being assaulted and killed all around the world for political gain, and LGBT individuals who pause for a moment (if even that) upon hearing of a murder like this and then retreat back into their worlds of clubbing and sex. One of the things that I'll never understand is how hearing about things like this doesn't motivate more people to get involved in the LGBT movement.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. I really feel like every single LGBT individual (and our straight allies) needs to be a part of this struggle. Equal rights can't be procured by a small handful of people "doing all the work." It's not just "activists" who need to be involved. Everyone does. This is supposed to be a MOVEMENT. As it stands now, it's more like a gentle rustling in the breeze. If that.
But that argument is for another day. (I bet all three of you who read this can't wait for that posting!) I'm getting off my soapbox now.
Anyway, Sean Kennedy's mom is trying to start a letter writing campaign to keep her son's murderer in jail. If you're interested in learning more, click here:
http://seanslastwish.wordpress.com/2008/12/23/action-alert-from-seans-last-wish
***
In other news, Obama's picked a gay to be a secretary! Awesome.
I'm being a bit facetious here. I'm thrilled that Obama can include queers in his administration in positions that have no impact on policy-making.
I'm probably being a bit harder on him than I really mean to be, but I think the above items made me a tad grouchy. If you're interested, read more here:
http://www.gaypolitics.com/2009/01/05/obama-names-gay-director-of-office-of-management-and-administration/
Cheers.
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now dont get all excited because i've commented (or something like that) on your posts. my commenting and sarcasm comes in spurts. dont get used to it.
ReplyDeleteso, the pams link doesnt like me. in other news "at least he's still alive" is sad, but it's the truth. i do that shit, too.
Aww... ex-wifey... well, I'll appreciate your comments whenever they come. And yeah... it is the truth, and, obviously, I'm grateful that it's the case. I just wish that murders didn't happen often enough that it makes it my first thought.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for the heads up on the link. It wasn't working for me either, so I switched it out.