Another hate crime took place in New York’s Greenwich Village over the weekend. A 32-year old black gay male, Mark Carson, was shot in the face after the assailant and two others confronted him, calling him homophobic slurs.
The police are calling in a bias crime. Don’t you wonder when these will end? Remember in 1998, when some white supremacists dragged African-American James Byrd behind their truck, killing him when his head and arm were severed? Or that same year when two men met Matthew Shepard in a bar, beat him up and tied him to a fence. He later died from his injuries. The two cretins pled that they were driving to temporary insanity by Shepard’s alleged gay advances. What?
When I hear about these horrendous crimes, I want to ask the people who commit them, “What are you so afraid of?” All hate comes down to fear. Fear that what you have will be taken away from you by someone who is the “other”... “other” color, “other” gender, “other” oriented sexually, “other” religion, “other” nationality. With gay bashing, it didn’t seem illogical to think that the perpetrators may also have latent homosexual tendencies that they are trying to suppress. Again, it all comes down to fear.
There was a vigil for Carson last night at Village corner where he was murdered. It looks like it was attended by hundreds. It was a reminder that love will always drown out hate in the long run, but that’s no consolation for his family, I’m sure. And at times like these, it sometimes feels like hate has the upper hand.
While this post is about hate crimes of any kind, today I’m giving to Fight OUT Loud, a charity that provides resources and assistance for GLBT individuals who face discrimination, as well as trains the GLBT community and its allies how to handle discrimination and raises awareness about the ongoing discrimination and hatred out there.
May 19: Fight OUT Loud
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140 down, 225 to go.
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