UrbanSkies

Tear

A friend told me last week about a gay bashing that occurred mid-July in Austin. I was surprised that I hadn't heard about it until last week, but that's probably because I pay more attention to national stories than local. Allegedly, four men met the victim at Oilcan Harry's, a bar I visit when I go out. They went back to the victim's home, and once there, allegedly forced him to sodomize himself with an object at knifepoint. They allegedly yelled anti-gay slurs at him and quoted the Bible, then beat and robbed him.

Today, I discover that three men have been arrested, one a current UT student, one a former UT student, and one a minor. The fourth has not been arrested yet. The stories are at News 8's site and The Daily Texan. Ironically, one of the suspect's last name is Gay. I can only imagine the ridicule he endured as a child. Perhaps this planted the seed of hate towards gays. But he obviously isn't too smart, as he bragged about the incident, and that is how he was found.

I am unbelievably sad and frightened by this story. It shakes one to the core when a hate crime takes place in your town, and the incident's beginning is a bar you frequent. Another anti-gay hate crime took place not too long ago, where an off-duty police officer was dragged from his car and beaten in the middle of the day. How did the suspects know the victim was gay? He had a small rainbow sticker on his license plate. This occurred in the Warehouse District, an area where gay clubs mix with straight bars. I'm surprised the incident did not receive more press.

I don't know who the victim is in the sexual assault case, but I shed a tear for him. I shed a tear for each victim of an anti-gay crime. It is sad when one feels that violence is a better solution than communication. And it is frightening when that violence may be directed at you, simply for being you.

When others bitch about the need for hate crimes legislation, I need only point to these two examples, or to Matthew Sheppard, or to James Byrd. These aren't just random crimes. These people are targeted, not for their ideas or because they're evil, or because they have inflicted pain upon others. They are targeted because they are being themselves, whether it's being black or gay or female or Muslim. These crimes are ones that make you stop living as a free person because you are so filled with fear that you can't be yourself. And that is not what is suppose to happen in America.

Posted by Ben at August 4, 2004 11:08 AM