The UofA has planned a Vigil and Call to Action for this upcoming Friday October 15th @ 5:30pm at the Old Main Fountain. In the wake of recent tragedies in the LGBTQ community, you are invited to come express your sympathies and make a call for action at this event.
The Southern Arizona Aids Foundation 2010 Aids Walk will begin at 7 AM on Sunday October 17th. Pets are welcome to walk as long as they are leashed, owners clean up after them, they are family friendly and ok around large crowds. There will be a quilt opening ceremony at 8 AM. There will be lots to see and do. Hope to see you there.
With all the news stories recently about gay bashing, whether physical, emotional or psychological, I couldn’t wondering if we’ve made any progress protecting members of the LGBT community from these savage attacks. After all, one year ago, President Obama signed an federal anti-hate crime law into effect that included specific language protecting gays, lesbians, transgendered and disabled Americans. But have we really made any headway and can members of the LGBT community really feel any safer today then they have in the past?
In a 1993 article by George M. Anderson that appeared in the liberal Catholic paper, Commonweal, the author relayed a story from a Boston Police detective. The detective was talking about the difference between being a decoy in a straight vs gay bar. He said “When I was a decoy in a straight bar where robberies had been taking place,” he said, “I was just robbed. When I was a decoy in a gay bar I was not simply robbed, I was also beaten.” When back-up officers arrived to make arrests, he added, the men who beat him were surprised that their behavior was taken seriously. “They said,’oh, he’s only a fag’–as if they had been engaged in no more than a weekend sport.”
That story seems pretty similar to stories we are still hearing. Just this week nine men were arrested for the savage beating of 3 men because they were gay. And last week, we learned of the tragic death of a Rutgers University freshman, Tyler Clementi, who was humiliated by his roommate who had broadcast an encounter Tyler had with another man over the internet. Asher Brown, a 13 year old in Houston and Seth Walsh, in CA both hanged themselves as a result of being bullied in school for being gay. Finally, the attack of a gay man at the famous Stonewall Inn, a gay establishment, illustrate, along with these other incidents, that gay bashing is still very much an issue for the LGBT community.
Why hasn’t much changed? We can thank outspoken politicians who continue to make insensitive remarks for one. Carl Paladino, NY Republican Gubenatorial candidate, just this week said “I just think my children and your children would be much better off and much more successful getting married and raising a family, and I don’t want them brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid and successful option,” he said. “It isn’t.” You might think in light of the fact that all three of these recent anti-gay incidents happened in the metro NY area, Mr. Paladino would choose his words more carefully.
And let’s not leave religious leaders out of the gay bashers. Fred Phelps continues to preach hate against the LGBT community. He is the worst, but there are many more, most we find out later are closet homosexuals and hipocrits.
Currently only 12 states in the country have laws that address hate crimes based on sexual orientation. As I reported in two recent blog posts, the Texas and Montana GOP official positions would make Homosexuality illegal. It’s been a long time since sodomy laws were removed from the books but I guess there are still some in the Republican Party that would like to reinstate them.
So what resources exist for the LGBT community in the fight against Hate Crimes. Here are a few: Locally in Tucson, Wingspan provides a 24 hour hotline for victims of violence. The It Only Gets Better Project on You Tube provides gays and lesbians, particularly youth, a place to hear people who have suffered the cruelty of others with respect to their sexual orientation. In New York, victims of hate crimes can call the Anti-Violence Project for help. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) exists to combat anti-gay rhetoric in the media. Finally, the Matthew Shepard Foundation, an organization founded by Matthew’s parents to make his dream of replacing hate in the world with understanding, compassion and acceptance, a reality. Hopefully, members of the LGBT can feel safe in their community and will get the resources they need to feel good about themselves.
