Let’s face it. People around the world have basically been given a permission slip to abuse LGBT people. Hey, we don’t deserve equal rights, so why should others consider us worthy of respect?
Example #1…Do people who are in public places who are also looking to hook up for sex, deserve to be killed?
DeFarra Gaymon, 48, was shot and killed by an undercover officer in Branch Brook Park in New Jersey after he apparently approached the officer for sex, then apparently lunged at him when he realized he was a cop. According to the officer, there was then a chase, a struggle, and as Gaymon apparently "reached inside his coat", the officer shot him in the abdomen, resulting in Gaymon’s death. Gaymon had no weapon. Gaymon was also the CEO of an Atlanta based credit union, who was on his way to his 30th high school reunion when he stopped at the park. He was also married with 4 children.
Another account of the story states that the officer drew his gun and when Gaymon attempted to disarm the officer, he was shot. But why was a gun involved in the first place? Gaymon was unarmed, and even if a struggle happened, why is shooting someone the option the officer took? Aren’t police officers supposed to be able to apprehend a suspect without resorting to a gun? Aren’t they supposed to be able to think on their feet? And what if the officer struggled with the suspect and then he got away? Let’s remember that no actual crime took place. No sex occurred. There’s no mention of anyone revealing themselves. Nothing happened outside a verbal suggestion.
The officer has been suspended. Not fired, but suspended. Now, police have suspended the park operation altogether , which they say has also nabbed straights, and are working with gay rights groups. Who knows if the operation will start up again after the fire dies down. The FBI has refused a request to investigate the incident by the family, however the Essex County prosecutor’s office is conducting an investigation.
This, put together with some other recent stories, is the result of the absence of equal rights for LGBT citizens. If our government and justice system doesn’t believe we warrant equal rights, the result is a free pass for anyone who wants to abuse us. Equal civil rights won’t immediately alleviate the verbal and physical abuse that LGBT people go through, but once we are equal, the change will begin. Over time, as we are acknowledged as equal, the abuse will lessen. It will never go away, ask any American of any ethnic group, but it will help.
In New York, Pedro Jones, a 20 year old man who was babysitting his girlfriend’s 17 month old son, is now being charged for beating the child to death. Apparently, Jones punched the baby several times and then grabbed him by the neck. According to Jones, "I was trying to make him act like a boy instead of a little girl." He added that for "one mistake" he was going to jail. Not only is this mired in homophobia, but misogyny and all kinds of other unwarranted feelings of hatred.
In the UK, a bartender was beaten after two men asked about his rainbow bracelet. Dane Holdsworth, admitted he was gay when asked, which brought on the barrage of punches and kicks until Holdsworth passed out. He is recovering.
In Indiana, a transgender woman was mistreated by the staff and ultimately refused care because they didn’t "know how to treat" someone like her. Erin Vaught claims the staff referred to her and her partner as "it" rather than she and generally ridiculed and embarrassed them. It’s been weeks and the hospital has forwarded nothing of the internal investigation they promised. They issued a statement including the following…"The hospital is committed to providing care with respect, dignity and courtesy…all staff are trained to embrace and act in accordance with core values…" Really? No one has been fired over the incident and the hospital still claims the allegations have to be proven.
A study just released recently shows that more than 70 countries still find being homosexual to be a crime. Seven countries punish that crime with death.
A 27 year old gay man in Liverpool was beaten by three other, fracturing his jaw.
In Memphis, a city council member received death threats after supporting a non discrimination policy in city government. Janis Fullilove also had a dead cat thrown onto her lawn.
And in Georgia, two marines are beating a man so badly that he suffered bruises on his brain. All this because the two marines thought the man was winking at them.
This just grazes the surface of the amount of LGBT violence happening every day. We have it better than many other countries, which regularly jail and kill people for simply being gay, among other things.
People aren’t that bright. It takes a lot of time to change the brain patterns from hundreds and thousands of years of inbred hatred and prejudice. While that process has already begun in many places, it can easily turn around and never truly begins until LGBT people are treated equally in all aspects of society and are granted equal rights. That means EQUAL rights, not DIFFERENT rights. Unfortunately, at this point, at this stage of the game, when all the evidence is in, we still don’t have them. That doesn’t create a lot of hope for future change.
