Unfinished Lives

Remembering LGBT Hate Crime Victims

Harvey Milk, Slain Gay Rights Pioneer, Honored Across the USA

San Franciso, CA – May 22 marks the first official Harvey Milk Day by action of the State of California.  Milk, the first openly gay or lesbian office holder in American history, was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977.  Because of his advocacy for LGBT rights, especially the citizens of his district, Harvey was affectionately known as the “mayor of Castro Street.”  In 1978, he was gunned down a few minutes after Mayor George Moscone faced the same fate at the hands of disgruntled former city supervisor, Dan White.  The story is compellingly told by the Academy Award winning film, “Milk,” whose screen writer, Justin Lance Black and whose leading actor, Sean Penn, both received Oscars.  In 2009, he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Honor. Milk’s legacy is immense, and it is only fitting that he is immortalized by this rare distinction in the Golden State.  Only John Muir has been so honored in California before Harvey.  Milk is the only gay person whose memory is enshrined in a day of festivities, education, activism, and remembrance statewide.  Notable among his words was the famous line he used so often to open his speeches, “I’m Harvey Milk, and I’m here to recruit you!”  Today, as California and and the nation at large struggle with the full inclusion and equality of LGBT people, racial ethnic minorities, women, and immigrants, nothing could be more pertinent than to recall Harvey’s life, and the qualities of passion and advocacy that continue to inspire and convert us to the cause of justice for all people.  First, Harvey Milk was not a quitter.  He ran unsuccessfully for public office multiple times, but refused to quit. The race for the finish line of justice is long, a relay, not a sprint, and he stayed the course until the voters caught up to him and to his vision of equality. Second, He refused to remain protected by the dubious security of the closet.  Openly and publicly, Harvey owned his identity and culture as a gay man before the world.  He called upon gays and lesbians everywhere to come out to everyone they knew, family, friends, co-workers, fellow students.  He knew that when LGBT people are known as the real human beings we are, it is harder to discriminate against us than if we are mysteriously hidden by fear. Third, he demanded respect and full equality.  Harvey knew that inequality for some of us–gay people, seniors, women, Asians, teamsters, youth–meant inequality for all of us. In his name, we should never support candidates or policies that compromise on equality for all. Rights are for all Americans alike–full rights, equal rights.  Fourth, Harvey Milk understood that political and social justice is all about hope.  “You gotta give ’em hope,” was Harvey’s most memorable mantra, and it remains true for today.  Hope for justice is not about optimism.  Optimism is shallow and may be easily frustrated by the unfairness of systems and circumstances.  Hope, on the other hand, is realistic and muscular.  Hopeful people are anything but passive.  They are engaged, as Harvey was, in the effort to make the world a better place, for hope’s sake.  Saturday, May 22 marks what would have been Harvey Milk’s 80th birthday.  He died an untimely, violent death.  But his life and legacy have paved the way for a better America, a more hopeful present, and full equality just over the horizon.  That is why in cities and towns all across the United States, Harvey’s hope is rippling out, expressed in events, festivals, teach-ins and social justice rallies to remember the Mayor of Castro Street.  Happy Birthday, Harvey!  Happy Harvey Milk Day to us all!

May 21, 2010 Posted by | anti-LGBT hate crime murder, California, Harvey Milk Day, Politics, Popular Culture, Remembrances, Social Justice Advocacy, Special Comments, Uncategorized | , , , , , | 1 Comment

Transphobic Attacker Slashes “IT” into Chest of Victim

Long Beach, CA – A Cal State Long Beach graduate student who identifies as a transgender man was forced into a campus toilet stall on April 15 and had the word “IT” carved into his chest with a sharp instrument.  The mystery attacker, depicted to the left in a police composite sketch, approached his mark in a men’s toilet on the west side of the campus at around 9:30 pm. He somehow knew his victim’s name, asking if his name was “Colle.”  When Colle Carpenter, a 27-year-old F to M graduate student, said yes, the attacker pushed his target into the stall, forcing him against the stall door. He grabbed Carpenter by the T-shirt, yanking it up over his head and exposing his bare chest, as reported by the Long Beach Press-Telegram. After slashing Carpenter, the assailant rushed form the scene, leaving his victim bleeding, shaken, and terrorized.  The suspect, described as a 5-foot-10-inch, thin white male with light complexion and dark hair, has neither been identified nor apprehended as of this writing. He was wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and dark khaki shorts, according to Rick Gloady, a spokesperson for CSULB. As the investigation has proceeded, some community organizations have criticized the university for not immediately releasing information about the attack to the press.  Carpenter, however, defended the school’s actions to the L.A.Times blog, L.A.Now, “I’m aware the university has come under some criticisms regarding communications and response, in general,” he said. “But again, I feel that the administration’s response has been focused on the investigation and my wellbeing.”  Scores of concerned students and townspeople gathered in support of Carpenter and all victims of transphobia on campus this past Thursday for a “Take Back the Night” march and rally.  Carpenter, still recovering from his injuries and leaning on a cane, told the crowd that his attacker was motivated by hatred.  The word carved into the flesh of his chest was chosen to demean him as a human being, trying to make him feel “less than human.” But his foe ultimately failed.  “I am not less than human,” he told his supporters, “I am not more than or less than anyone standing here today.” Carpenter went on to say, “I know this did not just happen to me.  This happened to every member of the community. Those of us who are visibly queer are scared. I have been terrified to come back to campus.”  He concluded his remarks, “Thank you for helping me get through this.”  Campus officials said that the slashing attack was a one-of-a-kind incident, and do not expect there to be another like it.  Meanwhile, the manhunt continues for the transphobic suspect who signs his bigotry in the flesh and blood of his victims.

May 1, 2010 Posted by | Anglo Americans, Anti-LGBT hate crime, California, Hate Crimes, Law and Order, Perpetrators of Hate Crime, Protests and Demonstrations, Slashing attacks, Slurs and epithets, Social Justice Advocacy, transgender persons, transphobia, Uncategorized, Unsolved LGBT Crimes | , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Transphobic Attacker Slashes “IT” into Chest of Victim

BB Gun Attackers Face Hate Crimes Charges in San Francisco

San Francisco, CA – Three cousins from Hayward are being charged with a hate crime for shooting a gay man in the face with a BB gun because they assumed he was a homosexual.  The Oakland Tribune reports that Mohammad Habibzada, 24, Shafiq Hashemi, 21, and Sayed Bassam, 21, saw a man standing outside a gay bar around 10 p.m. on February 26th in the Mission District of San Francisco smoking a cigarette.  They opened fire with a air rifle, hitting him in the face.  BB shot struck the victim in the cheek.  He was not seriously hurt, but as Assistant District Attorney Brian Buckelew noted to the Tribune, “Here we have a guy, shot in face with BB gun, who could have easily been shot in the eye.”  The victim got a clear look at a silver Volvo and reported the attack to police, who arrested the suspects within 15 minutes of the crime thanks to the description of the vehicle.  The alleged attackers had videoed the assault, and their handiwork is in the hands of police as evidence.  According to Buckelew, the video also includes evidence of similar crimes that are now under investigation.  Under police interrogation, the three suspects, all cousins with Hayward addresses, admitted that they chose their target because they thought he was gay.  The trio are facing three felony counts including assault with a deadly weapon with a hate crime enhancement, discharge of a firearm with gross negligence, and attempted mayhem.  They are also charged with a misdemeanor, violating the civil rights of their victim.  As the Tribune reports, all three suspects are now out of custody, each having posted a $50,000 bond. They are scheduled to be arraigned Friday, when the district attorney will request bail be raised to $100,000 because of the severity of the charges against them.  Other victims are in the video seized by police, representing several other crimes the trio may have committed.  The Assistant District Attorney said that there could be other charges against the three cousins if victims seen on the video come forward.

March 9, 2010 Posted by | Anti-LGBT hate crime, California, gay men, gun violence, Hate Crimes, Heterosexism and homophobia, Law and Order | , , , , , , | Comments Off on BB Gun Attackers Face Hate Crimes Charges in San Francisco

Graffiti Attack Sprays Hate at UC Davis: Students Rally

University of California at Davis – Vandalism swept UC Davis last week as LGBT and Jewish students reported being targeted by acts of hate on campus.  San Diego Gay and Lesbian News reports that homophobic slurs were spray painted on the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center building late in the night on Friday or early Saturday morning.  A Jewish student found a swastika carved into her dorm room door last week, as well.  The campus went into uproar, rallying to offer support to the victimized communities among them, and to let the unidentified perpetrators know that their actions will not pass without protest.  LGBT students and supporters went to work immediately to erase the slurs from the walls of the Resource Center.  KCRA News 3 reports that the anti-LGBT graffiti incident fits a pattern of other expressions of hate on a number of University of California system campuses recently.  At UC Irvine, the Israeli Ambassador to the United States was heckled with hate speech, disrupting his talk.  At UC San Diego, a fraternity weekend was punctuated with racial slurs surrounding the “Compton Cookout,” and a noose was found hanging from the campus library.  Two hundred UC Davis students met to frame responses to the incident on their campus.  Faculty and staff are meeting with the students to frame “actions steps” to address what is becoming a growing problem throughout collegiate populations in the Golden State.  The FBI has begun investigations into the rising climate of campus hate.

March 3, 2010 Posted by | Anti-LGBT hate crime, California, FBI, harassment, Heterosexism and homophobia, Perpetrators of Hate Crime, Protests and Demonstrations, Slurs and epithets, Social Justice Advocacy, transphobia, vandalism | , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Graffiti Attack Sprays Hate at UC Davis: Students Rally

Gay Teen’s Murder Inspired Federal Student Non-Discrimination Act

Seattle students celebrate Pride, photo by jglsongs

Washington, DC – The execution-style murder of a 15-year-old gay boy inspired an openly gay Congressman to author the Student Non-Discrimination Act.  Lawrence “Larry” Fobes King was shot twice in the back of the head two years ago by a fellow computer class student, 14-year-old Brandon McInerney at E.O. Green Middle School in Oxnard, California.  Now, even before McInerney stands trial for murdering his gender non-conforming classmate, Congress will consider the proposed law which for the first time would make it unlawful throughout the country for a any school receiving federal aid to discriminate against a person because of a perception that the individual is gay or lesbian.  As VCStar.com reports, “Under the proposed law, known as the Student Non-Discrimination Act, gay and lesbian students in public schools could not be excluded from participating in or be subject to discrimination under any educational program that receives federal assistance. Discrimination would include harassment, which is defined as acts of ‘verbal, nonverbal or physical aggression,’ as well as intimidation or hostility based upon a student’s actual or perceived sexual orientation.”  Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colorado), the author and primary sponsor of the bill said that King’s death was foremost in his mind as he framed this legislation and promoted it among his colleagues. “I absolutely had Larry King in mind and other kids like him,” he told reporters.  In an interview with DCAgenda.com, Polis said the legislation would give schools across the country tools to fight against discrimination that includes “everything from exclusion from prom, to banning clubs, to lack of actions addressing bullying situations.” Polis continued, “Gays and lesbians across the country face discrimination and frequently institutionalized discrimination in many school districts, and giving them a federal remedy, just as girls do and minorities, will help address this.”  The bill, H.R. 4530, has good support in Congress, with 65 co-sponsors including Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts).  Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California) is reviewing the legislation which Polis introduced in late January 2010.  Nine out of ten LGBT students in middle and secondary schools throughout the nation report that they have been harassed because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation, and 61 per cent of them say they feel unsafe in their schools because of attitudes about their sexuality, according to GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.  According to his school friends, Larry King suffered repeated harassment because of his feminine self-presentation.  He sometimes wore jewelry and dressed in high heels and feminine apparel.  Students have confirmed that he had tense exchanges with McInerney in the weeks before the fatal shooting.  Rep. Lois Capps (D-California), one of the bill’s co-sponsors and the Congresswoman representing Oxnard where King was murdered, told the VC Star, “Larry’s murder was particularly painful because it happened at his school, a place that should have been a sacred space where he could grow and learn in a safe and supportive environment.”  School officials in Oxnard contend they did nothing wrong, so the proposed law would not affect them.  Their critics, among them LGBT activists in Southern California, counter that nothing substantive has been done to address the underlying hatred that permitted one of their students to act out his phobia on another, to the point of murder.  McInerney, who is to be tried as an adult because of indications of pre-meditation of the crime, has pleaded not guilty to murder and hate crimes charges in the case.

February 20, 2010 Posted by | Anglo Americans, anti-LGBT hate crime murder, Bisexual persons, Bullying in schools, California, Colorado, gay teens, gun violence, harassment, Hate Crime Statistics, Hate Crimes, hate crimes prevention, Heterosexism and homophobia, Legislation, Lesbian women, Perpetrators of Hate Crime, Politics, School and church shootings, Social Justice Advocacy, transgender persons, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Larry King Remembered: Too Young To Die

Lawrence “Larry” Fobes King was murdered by two gunshots to the back of the head on February 12, 2008, and died two days later.  He was only 15 years old.  His assailant, Brandon McInerney, was only 14.  Larry died because he was gender non-conforming–a gay youth who would not, could not conceal who he was from his classmates at E.O. Green Middle School, Oxnard, California.  McInerney remains in custody in Ventura County pending his trial as an adult for allegedly slaughtering King with his grandfather’s pistol during morning computer class.  McInerney has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and hate crime charges.  His trial is slated to begin in May 2010.  Today, two years since the fatal shooting, we remember Larry, and mourn for Brandon, too.  Two young lives have been lost to unreasoning homophobia.  The message of Larry’s death is as clear on the second anniversary of his murder as it was when it occurred: violence and hatred against gender non-conforming youth–gay, lesbian, bi, and transgender–has got to stop.  This weekend, vigils and memorial services are being held in Larry’s memory  by Gay & Straight Alliances throughout the nation–in California, Iowa, Nebraska, Texas, Illinois, Minnesota, and Virginia, according to a GLSEN-endorsed site dedicated to him, www.rememberinglawrence.org. The Ventura County Star commemorated the anniversary with an article highlighting GSA efforts in Southern California, dedicated to bringing the terror of homophobic teen-on-teen violence to an end.  J.T. Mendoza, a high school senior from Simi Valley and a member in the local Gay and Straight Alliance there, spoke for all who seek to honor Larry: “There needs to be more awareness that all students, regardless of their sexual orientation, need to be safe in schools.  It’s not just a LGBT issue, but an everyone issue.”

February 12, 2010 Posted by | anti-LGBT hate crime murder, Bullying in schools, California, gay teens, gun violence, Hate Crimes, Heterosexism and homophobia, Perpetrators of Hate Crime, Remembrances, School and church shootings, Social Justice Advocacy, Vigils | , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Larry King Remembered: Too Young To Die

Threatening Postcards to Gay Profs Ignite Investigations

Images on hate mail sent to gay professor, John Koster photo for North County Times

San Marcos, CA – Authorities for the county, state, and federal governments launched a co-ordinated investigation last week into menacing postcards being sent to three gay Palomar College professors.  Since mid-2008, 20 postcards threatening murder have been sent to the trio, with 1o of these targeting Dr. Fergal O’Doherty, an open and out gay man who teaches English at the San Marcos campus.  O’Doherty said that FBI agents had contacted him on January 21, informing him that they are carrying out an investigation.  Sending threats through the U.S. Mail is an automatic federal offense.  O’Doherty told Morgan Cook, staff writer for the North County Times, that the cards sent to him have included images of sexual violence and death, the most disturbing of which showed skeletons engaged in sex acts with a repetitive caption reading “I’m glad I’m not dead” 10 times.  The tenth caption omitted the word “dead.”  One of the most recent cards Professor O’Doherty received shows a collage of pop culture images, a Nazi swastika, and a drawing of Elvis Presley sporting devil’s horns.  The caption on this postcard reads, “I want to go to Hell like Elvis.”  Authorities have not yet determined that these cards constitute a hate crime, but colleagues on the Palomar College campus are not waiting for such a determination.  They have founded a group to raise awareness of hate crimes and combat them before they are acted out, called the Palomar College Committee to Combat Hate.  Members of the group are committed to the human rights of LGBT people on the campus.  O’Doherty says that since he is one of the few openly homosexual professors at the 30,000 student community college, located 30 miles north of San Diego, his sexual orientation is probably the magnet for the hate mail.  From the variety of academic and pop culture icons incorporated into the cards, some as eminent as singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen and author Ernest Hemingway, but also including relatively obscure philosophers, O’Doherty speculates that the person creating them is intelligent, well-read, and dangerous.  “[The card-creator] mentions works by writers and philosophers that aren’t even assigned in undergrad classes,” he told the North County Times.  While this is not the first time O’Doherty and other gay faculty have been harassed for their sexual orientation, this is the first time officials have taken the threat seriously.  Even then, when the postcards started appearing, campus police refused to act, apparently believing that they were written by a harmless crank.  With over 13,000 documented violent crimes perpetrated against LGBT people throughout the nation in the decade prior to the passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in October 2009, and spiking numbers of anti-LGBT hate crimes in California where Proposition 8 and Marriage Equality are such hotly contested issues, the decision to launch an investigation is more than prudent on the part of law enforcement.  Prevention is possible only when the menace is taken seriously.  That is exactly what Professor O’Doherty knows to be true, as he shows his most recent death threat by mail to the press.

January 29, 2010 Posted by | Anglo Americans, Anti-LGBT hate crime, California, death threats, FBI, gay men, harassment, Hate Crime Statistics, Hate Crimes, hate crimes prevention, Heterosexism and homophobia, Law and Order, Legislation, Marriage Equality, Matthew Shepard Act, Perpetrators of Hate Crime, Popular Culture, Proposition 8 | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Threatening Postcards to Gay Profs Ignite Investigations

Indiana University Breaks Silence on Black Gay Professor’s Murder

Bloomington, IN – After a long silence, the Provost of Indiana University at Bloomington issued an official statement January 11 on the suspected hate killing of black gay professor, Dr. Don Belton, whose body was found stabbed multiple times in the kitchen of his home on December 27.  Critics of the university administration suggested that stony silence about the circumstances of Dr. Belton’s murder was damaging his reputation in an already sensationalized media atmosphere.  An ex-Marine, Michael J. Griffin, 25, has confessed to the crime as revenge for two sexual assaults allegedly perpetrated on him by the 53-year-old African American professor at a Christmas party.  Friends and colleagues of Dr. Belton are working diligently to overthrow this suspicious “gay panic” motive on the grounds that Dr. Belton was never the sort of man to assault anyone.  Griffin is being held without bail in the Monroe County jail awaiting trial.  Dr. Belton’s murder is part of an emerging pattern of hate killings of black gay academics in the United States.  Dr. Lindon Barrett, 46-year-old professor of English and African American Studies at the University of California – Irvine, was strangled to death in 2008.  Dr. Barrett’s alleged killer, Marlon Martinez, 22, was to stand trial in early 2010 for the murder, but was found dead in his Los Angeles County jail cell on Christmas Day.  The Long Beach Press Telegram reports that the cause of Martinez’s death is as yet undetermined. The statement of the provost of IUB is printed here in full:

Dear Faculty, Staff, and Students,

As the campus begins the new semester, we must acknowledge a terrible loss. Some of you may just now be returning to campus after the holidays, and I am very sad to inform you that the Indiana University community lost a dear colleague during the semester break.

Don Belton, a faculty member in the English Department, was slain at his home in Bloomington on December 27. (An arrest has been made in the case.)

In his relatively brief time at IUB, Professor Belton earned the admiration and affection of his colleagues and students.

He was a gifted writer and a highly-valued member of the faculty of our distinguished Creative Writing Program, in the Department of English. He was very well liked and very well-respected. His death is a loss not just to his family and friends, and our academic community, but also to the extended world of arts and letters and to all who value the humanistic traditions. His absence will be profoundly felt.

The murder of Professor Belton has evoked strong emotions throughout the community and indeed the nation. I trust that all members of our community will exhibit tolerance, compassion, and respect in the wake of the loss of a valued
colleague. Let us also show respect for one another and for the many and varied ways in which we express our grief over such a tragedy.

A memorial service to celebrate the life of Professor Belton will take place on Friday January 15, at 5 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Fee Lane in Bloomington.

Our heartfelt sympathies go out to Professor Belton’s family, friends, and colleagues.

Karen Hanson
Provost and Executive Vice President

January 19, 2010 Posted by | African Americans, Anglo Americans, anti-LGBT hate crime murder, Blame the victim, California, gay men, gay panic defense, Hate Crimes, Indiana, Latino and Latina Americans, Law and Order, Media Issues, Perpetrators of Hate Crime, stabbings, Strangulation | , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

“Jane Doe” Lesbian Rape Hearing Set A Year After the Crime

Josue Gonzalez, suspect in "Jane Doe" Rape Case

Contra Costa County, California – According to The Bay Area Reporter, an out lesbian known only to the public as “Jane Doe” was brutally raped by four men who attacked her because of her sexual orientation.  The first preliminary hearing on the case is scheduled to be held in January 2010, over a year after the savage rape incident that nearly took her life.  On December 13, 2008 at about 9:30 p.m., “Jane,” 28 at the time of the attack according to an AP wire service report,  was sexually assaulted by the men who watched her get out of her car in Richmond’s Belding-Woods neighborhood.  They had noticed a rainbow pride sticker on the car window, which police allege aided them in targeting the lesbian.  They forced her back into her car after being disturbed by someone approaching the scene of the crime, and drove her seven blocks to another location near an apartment complex on Burbeck Avenue where she was repeatedly sexually assaulted and beaten with a blunt object.  During the assault, the rapists allegedly taunted her for being a lesbian.  They stole her wallet, dumped her naked on the street, and drove away in her car, which was later identified by a rainbow sticker on the windshield.  Wounded and bleeding, “Jane” crawled to one of the apartments, and found help from the residents, who called the Richmond police.  She was transported to the hospital where her injuries were treated, and evidence of the rapes was collected with a rape kit.  “Jane’s” car was located in Richmond the next day.  Four suspects were arrested two weeks later, Humberto Hernandez Salvador, 32; Josue Gonzalez, 22; Darrell Albert Hodges, 16; and Robert James Ortiz, 16.  Salvador, Gonzalez, and Hodges pleaded not guilty earlier this year to felony kidnapping, carjacking, forcible rape, and forcible oral copulation.  Ortiz will enter a plea on similar charges January 7, according to documents of the court.  Bail for Ortiz is $3.5 million, bail for Salvador is $2.2 million, and bail for Gonzalez and Hodges is $1.9 million.  The Contra Costa County Deputy District Attorney, Danielle Douglas told BAR reporters that the victim, who is partnered and has an eight year old child, is “coping” the best she can.  “That’s really all I can say,” Douglas said. “She’s doing her best to try to move forward.”  Richmond Police spokesman Lieutenant Mark Gagan commented to the BAR on the brutality of the crime:  “What’s difficult in this case is the level of aggression that the suspects showed was so immediate and over the top I don’t think that there was anything that our victim could have done to avoid being victimized,” said Gagan. “From what I understand, it was an immediate, extremely aggressive attack without provocation and without really any warning.”  District Attorney Office spokespeople say that the complexity of this case makes it move so slowly through the court system.  Since serious jail time is involved for all the suspects if proven guilty, each one of them has secured separate counsel, and all the defense attorneys are asking for maximum time to prepare for the trials, which will probably be split among the defendants rather being done as a single trial for all four men.  “Jane Doe’s” legal counsel, Gloria Allred, who represented the mother of slain transgender woman Gwen Araujo, is not pressing the court dates, given the level of trauma her client sustained from the multiple rapes and the viciousness of the attack.  A preliminary hearing is set for early January 2010, a usual legal procedure in California law in rape cases.  If the preliminary hearing uncovers evidence enough for a trial in the case, then the wheels of justice will turn toward days in court for the four defendants and the victim of one of Richmond’s most brutal anti-LGBT hate crimes.

December 11, 2009 Posted by | Anti-LGBT hate crime, Beatings and battery, Bludgeoning, California, Hate Crimes, Heterosexism and homophobia, Law and Order, Lesbian women, Perpetrators of Hate Crime, rape, Slurs and epithets, transgender persons | , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on “Jane Doe” Lesbian Rape Hearing Set A Year After the Crime

Slain LGBT Icon Harvey Milk Inducted into California Hall of Fame

The Associated Press reports that Harvey Milk was inducted on Tuesday into the California Hall of Fame, along with 12 other notables from the Golden State.  Thirty-one years after Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated by former San Francisco City Supervisor Dan White, Milk will be featured for the next year in the California Hall of Fame section of the California Museum in Sacramento.  Milk, who had served as a San Franciso City Supervisor for 11 months, was 48 at the time of his murder.  According to the Bay Area Reporter, Milk’s nephew, Stuart Milk, received the commendatory Spirit of California medal marking his uncle’s induction from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver.  Andy Grove, the former CEO of Intel, read the citation.  Interviewed at the induction event, former campaign manager for Milk’s historic 1977 election campaign, Ann Kronenburg, called the honor, “definitely long past due.”  Smiling, she told reporters, “Harvey’s up there right now dancing.”  When asked about the importance of Harvey Milk to the LGBT community of California, Kronenburg quickly corrected the reporter, “To the world’s. Since the movie [Milk] came out I have continually received letters from around the world about what Harvey’s story means,” she explained. “And what it means is there’s hope. There’s so much hope.”  Milk’s Hall of Fame exhibit features a recently-opened urn containing a lock of his hair, a letter in his handwriting, a campaign button, and a rainbow flag. The memorabilia were held by the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C. until transported back to California for the exhibit.  Some 50,000 school children are expected to visit the exhibition during the coming year.  Though there were 12 other inductees honored at the ceremony, the greatest interest by the public and the press was clearly focused on the choice of Milk.  Protesters criticized the selection of the famed gay-rights pioneer for the Hall of Fame.  A group from San Leandro’s American Warrior Evangelical Ministry marched outside the ceremony venue carrying signs reading, “Harvey Milk was a pervert.”  The Bay Area Reporter quotes one of the demonstrators, Ken Arras, as saying, “We just believe that [Milk] is undeserving of this honor.  He may have been a nice guy outside of his immoral lifestyle, but what has he done? This award is all about his lifestyle. It’s just about him being a homosexual.”  Another of the San Leandro protestors, Don Grundmann, admitted that Milk’s murder was “a fantastic tragedy,” but argued that an assassination is insufficient reason for public recognition, referring to both the Hall of Fame induction and to Harvey Milk Day, which he claimed was a direct assault on children.  Grundmann went to to assert that no LGBT person should ever be inducted in the state’s Hall of Fame since “it would lead to acceptance” of immorality by impressionable youth.  Earlier in the year, Governor Schwarzenegger signed a bill sponsored by San Francisco’s openly-gay State Senator, Mark Leno, creating May 22 “Harvey Milk Day,” a day of special significance throughout California.  The Hall of Fame’s Class of 2009 included other stellar Californians, such as football coaching legend, John Madden, actor Carol Burnett, Chuck Yeager, the first test pilot to break the sound barrier, filmmaker George Lucas, and author Danielle Steele.

December 3, 2009 Posted by | anti-LGBT hate crime murder, California, gay men, gun violence, Hate Crimes, Heterosexism and homophobia, Legislation, Perpetrators of Hate Crime, Politics, Popular Culture, Protests and Demonstrations, Remembrances | , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Slain LGBT Icon Harvey Milk Inducted into California Hall of Fame