Unfinished Lives

Remembering LGBT Hate Crime Victims

Kobe Bryant Fined $100K For Anti-Gay Slur: A Special Comment

Los Angeles, California – Kobe Bryant, controversial star of the Los Angeles Lakers, has been fined $100,000 for an anti-gay slur he mouthed on live television at a referee.  As E! Online reports, the National Basketball Association (NBA) fined Bryant after investigating the incident.  Bryant, angry at being given a technical foul by Referee Bennie Adams, called the ref a “fucking faggot” in such a way that it was captured live by the camera at last night’s Lakers game with the San Antonio Spurs. NBA Commissioner David Stern swiftly disciplined the five-time national champion guard, saying to Free Republic, ”Kobe Bryant’s comment during last night’s game was offensive and inexcusable. While I’m fully aware that basketball is an emotional game, such a distasteful term should never be tolerated. … Kobe and everyone associated with the NBA know that insensitive or derogatory comments are not acceptable and have no place in our game or society.” The action of the NBA drew praise from LGBTQ rights advocacy groups who had protested the use of the slur.  In a statement Bryant issued through the L.A. Lakers organization, Bryant had tried to defuse the anger of gay rights groups by saying that he didn’t mean anything by it. “What I said last night should not be taken literally. My actions were out of frustration during the heat of the game, period,” Bryant averred. ”The words expressed do NOT reflect my feelings towards the gay and lesbian communities and were NOT meant to offend anyone.” Who does he think he’s fooling? The Human Rights Campaign said to TMZ Sports, “What a disgrace for Kobe Bryant to use such horribly offensive and distasteful language, especially when millions of people are watching.” The HRC has a point.  Language has consequences. Words can ignite lethal acts. Especially for groups who face threats of physical, social, and spiritual violence daily, as LGBTQ people do. The people who say to queer folk, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me,” simply do not live in the same psycho-social universe that the rest of us do. The linkage between anti-gay slurs and epithets, and acts of bias-driven violence has been well-establshed by law enforcement. One of the unmistakable markers looked for by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to help determine if an assault should be investigated as a hate crime is the use of derogatory, anti-LGBTQ language during the committal of the crime. And the link between verbal attacks on queer folk and hate speech is clearly an organic one. Bryant’s disdain for gays and lesbians was openly on display for the world to see and hear, reinforcing cultural and religious bias against gender variant and same sex loving people.  HRC went on to say, “Hopefully Mr. Bryant will recognize that as a person with such fame and influence, the use of such language not only offends millions of LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender] people around the world, but also perpetuates a culture of discrimination and hate that all of us, most notably Mr. Bryant, should be working to eradicate.” Youth worship NBA stars like Bryant.  They model themselves after their heroes in fashion, prowess, and, pertinent for this inquiry, in opinion. The sports shoe industry has know that for a very long time. At the very least, Bryant’s verbal foul supports a culture of discrimination and intimidation that has kept gay and lesbian athletes deeply closeted for decades, making the sports closet arguably the most pernicious in American life today.  One has only to reflect on the rarest of all queer celebrities: out professional sports figures. So, the Unfinished Lives Project Team stands with HRC President, Joe Solmonese when he said today, “We applaud Commissioner Stern and the NBA for not only fining Bryant but for recognizing that slurs and derogatory comments have no place on the basketball court or in society at large. We hope such swift and decisive action will send a strong and universal message that this kind of hateful outburst is simply inexcusable no matter what the context.” It is past time to require professional sports teams and coaching organizations to do sensitivity and diversity training inclusive of LGBTQ concerns. Kobe Bryant apparently doesn’t know better until he gets caught.  The Lakers went on to win the game.  Kobe lost, big time. We at Unfinished Lives believe in order for things to get better in the locker room and on the court, athletes must be taught what is at stake when they “foul” the air.

April 14, 2011 Posted by | African Americans, Anti-LGBT hate crime, anti-LGBT hate crime murder, California, FBI, gay bashing, gay men, gender identity/expression, Gender Variant Youth, harassment, Hate Crimes, hate crimes prevention, hate speech, Heterosexism and homophobia, Human Rights Campaign, Kobe Bryant, Lesbian women, National Basketball Association (NBA), Perpetrators of Hate Crime, Queer, religious hate speech, religious intolerance, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Slurs and epithets, Social Justice Advocacy, Special Comments, transgender persons, transphobia | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Kobe Bryant Fined $100K For Anti-Gay Slur: A Special Comment

“Unfinished Lives” Book Tour Rolls Through North Carolina

 

Stephen Sprinkle signs "Unfinished Lives" book at Barton College, Wilson, North Carolina (Keith Tew photograph)

Raleigh, North Carolina – The Unfinished Lives Book Tour is visiting cities, churches, and campuses throughout the Old North State, and buzz is growing on the book wherever it goes.  Dr. Sprinkle commenced at the home of the Reverends Phil Jones and Cathy Cralle-Jones in Cary on April 9, where a packed house heard the story of how Unfinished Lives came to be. “I survived an anti-gay hate crime threat myself in 2000,” Dr. Sprinkle told the gathering of well-wishers for the book.  “That near-brush with physical violence just because I was gay set me on the journey to learn as much as I could about other stories of hate crimes victims in the United States,” he said. Representatives of St. Paul’s Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Hillyer Memorial Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh, Covenant Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Cary, Hopewell United Methodist Church in Sampson County, and the Graduate School at North Carolina State University engaged Dr. Sprinkle in a lively Q & A on hate crimes in America.  On Sunday, April 10, Dr. Sprinkle preached for the 9 and 11 a.m. services at St. Jude’s Metropolitan Community Church in Wilmington, an LGBTQ-predominant congregation founded after the brutal 1990 disembowelment slaying of lesbian carpenter, Talana Quay Kreeger, “Talana with the wild, blonde hair.”  No church in the city would allow Kreeger’s funeral because of the negativity toward her homosexuality, though she was the innocent victim of a horrendous hate crime.  Coastal Carolina queer folk vowed never to depend on a straight Christian congregation again to allow a funeral for one of their own. Local visionary activist, social worker Tab Ballis, introduced Dr. Lou Buttino, head of the UNC-Wilmington Film Studies Department, and announced that “The Park View Project” documenting the murder of Talana Kreeger, would be seen to completion by the eminent filmmaker. Reverend John A. McLaughlin, pastor of St. Jude’s, welcomed Dr. Sprinkle on behalf of the city of Wilmington. In the afternoon, representatives of St. Jude’s and First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Wilmington, and Winterville Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) joined Dr. Sprinkle for a book signing at Two Sisters Bookery in the historic Cape Fear Riverfront Cotton Exchange. On Monday, April 11, Dr. Sprinkle spoke at the NC State University GLBT Center “Lunch and Learn” event, and signed copies of his book. Center Director Justine Hollingshead and Emeritus Professor Bill Swallow hosted Dr. Sprinkle at State, where members of the Wolfpack Football Team were in attendance for the talk. This was Dr. Sprinkle’s second appearance at the NC State GLBT Center. In the afternoon, Dr. Sprinkle and Rev. Phil Jones went to Wilson to deliver a lecture and sign books at Barton College.  Dr. Sprinkle was hosted by Dr. Joe Jones, and greeted by members of the Religion and Philosophy, Sociology, Social Work, and English faculties of the college. He spoke on “Honor and Educate: How the Community of the Dead Shapes LGBTQ Community.”  Students, faculty, and staff asked many probing and pertinent questions about the nature of anti-LGBTQ hate crimes and the linkage with religious intolerance. On Tuesday, April 12, Rev. Jones and Dr. Sprinkle traveled to Duke University Divinity School in Durham for a book signing sponsored by Cokesbury Bookstore. Dr. Stanley Hauerwas, renowned theological ethicist, called “America’s best theologian” by Time Magazine, attended, and got his copy of Unfinished Lives. “These stories need to be gotten out there,” Dr. Hauerwas said. He presented Dr. Sprinkle with a signed copy of his 2005 book, Cross-Shattered Christ: Meditations on the Seven Last Words. Later in the afternoon, the tour went to the LGBTQ Center on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where Dr. Sprinkle and Rev. Jones were greeted by Terry Phoenix, Center Director. A topic of discussion was the April 4 torture attack on gay UNC student Quinn Matney, who claimed he was branded by a super-hot metal instrument while being held down by his assailant. “Here is a taste of hell for you, you fucking faggot!”, the UNC student said his attacker shouted while torturing him, as reported to the Daily Tarheel. Before departing Chapel Hill, Dr. Sprinkle introduced his book to Dr. Rick Edens and Dr. Jill Edens, co-pastors at the 800-member United Church, a congregation of the United Church of Christ. Dr. Sprinkle plans to contact RDU leaders on behalf of the Human Rights Campaign’s Religion and Faith Program on Wednesday, before returning to Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth.  The book tour is making friends and news everywhere it goes.  A four-session series on the book is planned for Houston during Pride Month, in June, and a six city national tour in the Fall.  Stay tuned for more on Unfinished Lives!

April 12, 2011 Posted by | African Americans, Anglo Americans, Anti-LGBT hate crime, anti-LGBT hate crime murder, Barton College, Beatings and battery, Bisexual persons, Book Tour, Bullying in schools, Burning and branding, Cokesbury Books, Covenant Christian Church, death threats, desecration of corpses, Duke Divinity School, Evisceration, First Christian Church Wilmington, funerals, gay bashing, gay men, gay teens, gender identity/expression, Gender Variant Youth, harassment, Hate Crime Statistics, Hate Crimes, hate crimes prevention, hate speech, Heterosexism and homophobia, Human Rights Campaign Religion and Faith Program, It Gets Better Book, It Gets Better Project (IGBP), Latino and Latina Americans, Law and Order, Legislation, Lesbian women, LGBT teen suicide prevention, LGBTQ suicide, Matthew Shepard Act, NC State GLBT Center, NC State Graduate School, North Carolina, Park View Project, Perpetrators of Hate Crime, Public Theology, Queer, Racism, rape, religious hate speech, religious intolerance, School and church shootings, Slurs and epithets, Social Justice Advocacy, St Jude's MCC, stabbings, stalking, Stanley Hauerwas, Stomping and Kicking Violence, Strangulation, suicide, Torture and Mutilation, transgender persons, transphobia, Two Sisters Bookery, U.S. Navy, UNC-Chapel Hill LGBTQ Center, UNC-W Film Studies Program, Unfinished Lives Book Signings, United Church of Chapel Hill, Unsolved LGBT Crimes, women | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on “Unfinished Lives” Book Tour Rolls Through North Carolina

Guest Post – of Queers and Steers – A Manifesto of a Queer Womyn

Our Project Director, Steve Sprinkle, is out on his book tour in North Carolina this week. However we don’t wish to live y’all bereft of content so here is an incredible guest post by Mary our dear friend and supporter:

“Of Queers and Steers – A Manifesto of a Queer Womyn,” by Mary Warejcka

Have you liked Unfinished Lives on Facebook yet?

NB – Mary is a dear friend and, as you will see, a powerful writer.  This is an essay she has given me permission to post, and it is a moving testimony to queer life.  Read, marvel, and enjoy!  ~ Steve Sprinkle

April 12, 2011 Posted by | Book Tour, Queer | , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Guest Post – of Queers and Steers – A Manifesto of a Queer Womyn

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