posted March 2, 2009 09:03 PM by
rickweberI had a hard time this week finding stories that were "good news." The latter part of last week saw a domestic partnership bill die in
New Mexico, and another domestic partnership bill get stuck in the Senate Judiciary and Government Operations Committee in
Hawaii.
My first story this week comes from Florida, where Joseph Bearden was sentenced to life in prison after stabbing a openly gay 25 year old
Ryan Skipper during a robbery. His Father had this to say after the verdict:
"There is no joy in today's verdict for our family. And we recognize that the defendant's family is affected by this verdict as well. We hope that everyone who is outraged by hate-violence will honor Ryan's memory by speaking out against prejudice and inequality. True justice for Ryan will be realized when our community and world treat all people with equal dignity and respect"
During the trial, the medical examiner testified that Ryan had a
3 1/2-inch deep stab wound that severed his carotid artery, causing him to bleed very fast and go unconscious in several seconds. Overall, Ryan was stabbed and cut 19 times and bled to death.
Another article touched on what Ryan was like. One
story in particular made me smile.
A woman once visited the store with her young daughter and Skipper played with the girl while she was in the store, Evans said. Before the girl left Skipper bent down to hug the child and told her she was beautiful, Evans said.
"Now every time (the woman and her daughter) see the store she (the daughter) says, 'That's the man that told me I was beautiful,'" Evans said. "He made an impact. You could meet him one time and never forget him."
When Strickland became pregnant with her daughter, Kayden, in 2003, she knew she wanted the friend she never saw without a smile to have a part in something he may not have the chance to experience.
"You're not manly enough to be a godfather, but you're not girly enough to be a godmother, so you can be her godfairy," she told Skipper.
He laughed - and accepted on the spot.
Here's a face to put to that story.
Speaking of hate, the Southern Poverty Law center recently uploaded a map showing active hate groups in the U.S. They were able to do so by using hate group publications and websites, citizen and law enforcement reports, field sources and news reports. Here's the
link to the map.
How many do you have in your state? Mine has 5. Unsurprisingly most of them are white supremacy groups. Funny how those are needed in a place that's made up of 88% white folk. Anyway, how does it make you feel to see that on a map? Does it scare you? Does it make sense to you? There doesn't seem to be much cross burning in Alaska or Hawaii, but there sure are a lot of haters in California, Florida, and the state
where black people are dragged behind trucks (Texas). Do you think people's attitudes would change if this happened in their neighborhood, or if they knew the victim or their family?
With the recent Oscar wins for the movie "Milk", I'll leave you with some of Harvey's quotes and a couple of questions.
"I cannot prevent anyone from getting angry, or mad, or frustrated. I can only hope that they'll turn that anger and frustration and madness into something positive, so that two, three, four, five hundred will step forward, so the gay doctors will come out, the gay lawyers, the gay judges, gay bankers, gay architects ... I hope that every professional gay will say 'enough', come forward and tell everybody, wear a sign, let the world know. Maybe that will help."
"I fully realize that a person who stands for what I stand for, an activist, a gay activist, becomes the target or the potential target for a person who is insecure, terrified, afraid, or very disturbed with themselves."
"All men are created equal. No matter how hard you try, you can never erase those words."
"I know that you cannot live on hope alone, but without it, life is not worth living. And you... And you... And you... Gotta give em hope."
-Harvey Milk, May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978
I want you to tell me or show me, "What does hope look like?" When you see bad news like this, what goes through your mind? As a movement, the GLBT movement has made leaps and bounds within a relatively short amount of time. If you disagree with that statement, I'd suggest you rent or buy the documentary "
Out of the Past."
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To me, hope looks like the future. I honestly am barely discouraged by Prop 8's passage, because I know [or I have convinced myself of] the inevitability of equal rights, just as blacks and women obtained equal rights. It may be quite a long time from how however, which does worry me, about my own life, and the lives of others in my generation.