It’s always difficult to hear about gay bashing. The recent events in the Caribbean island of St. Maarten, where two gay New Yorkers were brutally attacked while on vacation with friends, only highlight the need to understand what creates this mentality of hate.
One victim, Dick Jefferson, a 51-year-old top producer at the “CBS Evening News,” now has a titanium plate in his head. The second victim Ryan Smith, a 25-year-old television news researcher, also at CBS, suffered far more serious injuries. Yes, far more serious than a titanium skull plate.
The sluggish, apathetic, and, dare I say, criminal response of the St. Maarten police should serve as a wake up call to all Americans, regardless of sexual orientation, that when stereotypes are continually perpetuated, unresolved violence is the inevitable result. The situation on the ground in St. Maarten took on an even more ominous tone when Today, a newspaper there, days after the attacks editorialized as follows: “It is made much worse when silly homosexuals use their power in the New York media to trash a friendly island for a one-of-a-kind incident. The homosexual community should be ashamed.”
This story is the nightmare of every parent of a gay person. I can’t tell you how many times my mother, who assisted in legalizing Gary’s and my relationship by signing our Canadian marriage certificate, has asked me not to hold my husband’s hand in public because she fears for our safety.
http://www.gaycitynews.com/gcn_518/theoriginofhate.html