With gay marriage being talked about as much as one of the Kardashian’s having a bowel movement, a lot of gay and lesbians have the false hope that there is more acceptance than ever.
Though true public acceptance for gays is at an all time high, there are still many gay and lesbians being beat and killed, even in a city like Manhattan. 5 gay men, in 3 different incidents were beaten badly in the last 7 days! The last one was on Friday night in the West Village; a man walked up to a guy, called him a faggot, pulled out a gun and shot him in the face; the guy died Friday night.
Most gay men are more concerned with “Manhunt” and “Grindr” (gay sites where men cruise for sex) instead of thinking they could possibly be killed on the street for their sexual orientation. Most young gays these days did not experience shame from family and friends; no gay role models and that just by walking down the street; someone could call you a faggot and punch you in the face, or worse, kill you.
According to NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, there have been 27 bias crimes in New York in 2013, of course that number is doubled when you realize that very poor or undocumented gays and lesbians get beat, raped or worse and never report it out of fear of being deported, or arrested for a prier minor crime.
Mark Carson, 32, killed Firday night for being gay. |
We as a culture need to protect our own, so if you see someone being harassed, help them, I’m not saying to turn into “Rambo,” call 911; we all have cell phones these days. Just remember, that gay or lesbian being harassed could be your brother, sister, friend or, sadly even ourselves.
We have to stay strong, and sometimes fight with our fist or our words to win against being beat down for years. Our brothers and sisters are being killed; you have to wonder; are we doing enough to protect ourselves?