William K. Wolfrum Chronicles

Please update your Gay Agendas to now include “complete and total domination of the air pump and pad industry.” Thank you.

–WKW

Singers Donny and Marie Osmond are starring in a new show at the Flamingo, to unconfirmed reports that the show will be based on gay bashing and the taking away of the rights from those in the LGBT Community. After all, the Osmond family has taken the public stance of wanting to take away the rights of others who dare share different lifestyles than they with their support of Proposition 8.

So, if you believe that some humans are more equal than others and that the LGBT community should be happy with whatever rights they are allowed, go to the Flamingo and see their show. There it’s possible you’ll see the twice-divorced Marie Osmond preach from her pulpit of monumental privilege about the sanctity of marriage.

–WKW

Regardless of the positives that Barack Obama will bring to the U.S. Presidency, there is one important point to remember - he is a politician first and foremost.

So while I understand and agree with the furor over giving homophobe Rick Warren a special spot in his inauguration, I understand why Obama chose him - it’s about votes. To Team Obama, it’s better to alienate the GLBT vote. Because there are far more bigots out there that he believes he can switch than there are GLBTs out there whose votes he would lose.

The U.S. did not just elect Ghandi. They voted in a politician. It’s about votes. Period.

–WKW

The hateful theocrats that brought you Proposition 8 are now working to sneak a law past that will nullify all gay marriages in California. And now joining this group of under-evolved moon howlers is none other than Kenneth Starr, the Whitewater investigator that shamed the nation with his witch hunt of Bill Clinton:

Proposition 8 supporters also announced the addition of Kenneth Starr to their legal team. Starr will serve as lead counsel and argue their case to the Supreme Court.

Starr, the dean of Pepperdine Law School, investigated the suicide of Clinton deputy White House counsel Vince Foster and the Whitewater affair. The $70 million investigation turned up evidence of President Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky and led to Clinton’s impeachment by the House of Representatives. He was acquitted by the Senate

With this move, Starr has once again shown that he is one of the many who believe that their God is so worthlessly pathetic that they need to do its work for it. One could only wish that evolution would hurry the hell up. Those like Starr and Andrew Pugno will be weeded out by natural selection soon enough, sure. But the last act of these neanderthals is getting old.

–WKW

If there was one thing that was drilled into our collective heads during the intense, and ultimately successful campaign to insert blatantly discriminatory language into the California constitution it is this - many prominent religious organizations want all citizens of a nation to follow their rules, regardless of whether or not they follow their religion.

Not that this comes as much of a surprise. History is littered with the attempts of organized religious bodies to leap out of their churches and into the day-to-lives of ordinary citizens, believers or not. All other issues aside, nothing showcases the disconnect between God’s teachings and the humanity in charge of translating those teachings than the all-too secular ambitions of the James Dobsons of the world. And history has shown us repeatedly the dangers that come with radically ambitious people who feel they are on a mission from God.

The religious right’s latest crusade against the LBGTQ community made me think quite a bit of Brazil and the problems that have been injected into Brazilian society by Catholicism (and Mormonism, which has grown sharply due to a barrage of Mormon missionaries). There is a societal paradox in Brazil - while the majority of Brazilians lean far to the left on political issues, on social issues they lean much more to the right. And that rightward lean can be attributed directly to the Catholic Church.

I recently spoke with a few gay males here in Brazil about Proposition 8 and about how they viewed their acceptance in Brazilian society. Not surprisingly, they were well aware of Prop 8. And while Brazil is still a dangerous country for those in the LBGTQ community, they have seen progress and seen acceptance gain a modicum of momentum over the years.
(more…)

Words

• “AIDS is not just God’s punishment for homosexuals; it is God’s punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals.” — Jerry Falwell
• “We will see a breakdown of the family and family values if we decide to approve same-sex marriage, and if we decide to establish homosexuality as an acceptable alternative lifestyle with all the benefits that go with equating it with the heterosexual lifestyle. — Jerry Falwell
• “This vote on whether we stop the gay-marriage juggernaut in California is Armageddon.” — Chuck Colson.
• “[they are] watching the destruction of Western civilization.” — Rev. Jim Garlow
• “I am appealing to you who have stood by The Call these years to drop everything to come to Qualcomm Stadium and join this mighty prayer battle that is going on….There are certain spiritual powers of darkness that will not be restrained unless we are willing to gather. God promises if we will do that. He will fight for us.” — Rev. Jim Engle.
• “One cannot ignore the negative consequences that can stem from the ordination of people with deeply-rooted homosexual tendencies.” — The Vatican.

Actions*

• Hate crimes incidents decreased slightly last year despite a surge in those targeting gays and lesbians.
• Simmie Williams Jr., 17, was shot to death while dressed as a woman on Feb. 22 in an area of Fort Lauderdale known as a popular place for transgender prostitutes. Williams, who was wearing a dress, was known in the area by his first name or as “Chris” or “Beyonce.” Williams’ mother said her son was openly gay, but she didn’t know what he did when he went out at night, and she didn’t know he wore women’s clothes. Police are investigating the shooting as a hate crime.
• Tony Randolph Hunter, 37, a resident of Clinton, Md., was brutally beaten on Sept. 7 as he and a friend walked to the Washington, D.C., gay club, BeBar. He died 10 days later. Activists are decrying the attack as an anti-gay hate crime but police said they had insufficient evidence to label Hunter’s killing a hate crime. Two weeks ago, D.C. police identified Robert Hannah, 18, as the man wanted in connection with the death of Hunter. He is wanted on a felony warrant for voluntary manslaughter.
• D.C. police listed as a hate crime an incident on Oct. 24 in which two men leaving the D.C. Eagle, a gay bar on the 600 block of New York Avenue, N.W., were assaulted by a group of men shouting anti-gay names.

  Acting Lt. Brett Parson, who oversees the police Gay & Lesbian Liaison Unit, said the incident occurred near the corner of 7th Street and New York Avenue, N.W., a short distance from the Eagle’s entrance.

  “The victims, who state they were walking through a group of 6 black males, were punched and called homophobic names,” Parson said in an e-mail alert.

• TORRANCE — Authorities say a Torrance man who used an anti-gay marriage “Yes on Prop. 8″ sign to attack an openly gay man has been charged with a felony hate crime.
  Joseph Storm, 23, got into a scuffle with a 22-year-old man wearing a “No on 8″ button early Sunday in Torrance, according to Deputy District Attorney Janet Wilson.
  Storm and the victim, whose identity has not been released, have known each other since junior high school, she said.
  During the fight, Storm took the lawn sign and knocked the victim down with it, then punched him in the face and choked him, Wilson said.
  Storm is also accused of calling the victim a derogatory name for homosexuals.
• (Jimmy Lee) Dean was severely beaten and pistol-whipped in the early morning hours of July 17 in the 3900 block of Dickason Avenue, just a few feet from a parking lot serving Dallas’ largest gay nightclubs.

  The suspects in the attack — Bobby Jack Singleton and Jonathan Russell Gunter, both of Garland —are awaiting trial on charges of aggravated robbery.

  Singleton and Gunter reportedly yelled anti-gay epithets before, during and after the attack, and police said Singleton and Gunter admitted they felt it would be easier to rob a gay man

• One week after Washington State University’s Week Without Violence celebration, the Pullman community was shocked by four attacks against Gay-Lesbian-Bisexual-Transgender individuals whose incidents were separated by days.

  On Oct. 16, Kristopher Shultz, WSU junior, was walking home for a book when he said he heard someone shout at him. The moment he turned around, his face was met with a fist, followed by kicks in his side. …

  At 7:30 p.m. Monday, Jackson Hogan, junior, was attacked in a campus-parking garage while walking to the elevator.

  “A guy passed, I said a quick ‘hi’ and kept walking,” Hogan said. “Then he turned and started kicking and beating me.”

• INDIANAPOLIS — The friends of two elderly men found dead in their southwest-side home on Monday said they believe the men were killed because they were gay.

  Milton Lindgren, 70, and Eric Hendricks, 73, were found dead Monday morning in their home at 9160 Middlebury Way. Police would not say how they were killed or how long their bodies had been inside the home, only that their deaths came by “violent means.”

  The victims bodies were found inside their home Monday morning by a friend who had’t seen or heard from them in two weeks. The bodies were found lying in blood and their heads were battered.

  Patrick Beard, a friend of the victims, told 6News’ Rick Hightower that he believed the men were targeted.

  “I firmly believe it was definitely a hate crime. Milt was 70 and his partner was 73 and to go into someone’s home and do something like that, it’s just too coincidental,” he said.

  Police reports show that the men had their phone and cable lines cut twice in the past few months, and that anti-gay statements were posted on their front door.

• Several local organizations will hold a vigil Tuesday, February 19 in remembrance of Lawrence King, the 15-year-old junior high student in Oxnard, California, who was shot by a fellow classmate Tuesday, February 12.
  King, who was perceived to be gay and gender non-conforming, was taken off life support Friday.
• Surveillance tape from a Memphis police station shows police officers hitting a transsexual who they had taken into custody.
  One of the officers involved has been fired and another has been placed on leave, Memphis police said Wednesday. The tape was made in February.
  Duanna Johnson was in the booking area at the Memphis Police Department after an arrest on prostitution charges. The videotape showed an officer walk over and hit her in the face several times.
• He said he was beat up until he was unconscious because he’s gay, and police agree. Now police are looking to arrest a suspect in what they’re calling a hate crime. News 10NBC talked exclusively with the victim.

  Lance Neve said he was in the bar minding his own business and was then attacked.

  “I was punched and I went to the floor,” Lance said. “He continued to beat my head into the floor.”

• Two teenagers were ordered held without bail yesterday in the death of a Randallstown High School student who was stabbed and stomped to death after his fellow Bloods gang members found messages on his phone that suggested he was gay.

  Steven T. Hollis III, 18, of Randallstown and Juan L. Flythe, 17, of West Baltimore - both of whom are members of the Bloods gang, according to police - were arrested and charged Thursday evening with first-degree murder. They are accused of killing a fellow gang member days before his high school graduation in May.

  The body of Steven Parrish, 18, was found May 29 in a wooded area near his parents’ home and Woodlawn Cemetery.

• A 33-year old man is charged with murder in the brutal killing of Patrick Murphy regarded by most in Albuquerque’s LGBT community as a drag icon.

  Police allege that Dana Madsen shot Murphy three times in the head. He was arrested shortly after calling police to report a shooting inside his apartment.

• Stacy Brown, Baltimore, January 8 2008. Found dead inside a house in the 300 block of W. North Avenue near Gwynns Falls Park. Shot in the head, in the house shared with Brown’s mother and sister. People were home when police arrivede, but have yet to explain the circumstances of Brown’s death.
• N. CHARLESTON, S.C. — News that a gender non-conforming teenager was shot down here more than a month ago has been slow to reach regional and national LGBT media organizations.

  Adolphus Simmons, 18, was shot at the Bradford Apartments complex by a 15-year-old boy on Jan. 21. Police arrested and charged the suspect on Jan. 24. Another juvenile was arrested and charged later. The names of the suspects are not being released by authorities.

• DETROIT - The identity of a young transgender woman found dead in Detroit Feb. 4 was revealed late last week in response to a FOIA request filed by this newspaper. The Detroit Police Department announced that the body found dumped near the intersection of Canfield and Ellery streets on Detroit’s East Side was that of Michael Dionthe Sweeney. Between The Lines has also learned that the victim was more commonly known by the name of Ashley and will, henceforth, refer to her as such.
• A man named Steve McMillian apparently stabbed Sanesha Stewart to death on Saturday morning. Who was she? She lived in the Bronx. She was tall and femme and well-liked by her neighbors. She was a client at the law project where I volunteer, but I never met her myself. Some of my colleagues helped her get her name legally changed more than a year ago. None of the above mattered at all to the news media, which handled this tragedy with the appropriate combination of sensitivity, respect for the victim, and a very cold eye for the man who the police dragged from her apartment, covered in her blood.

  Oh no… wait one second and back up. There was no respect and no cold eye, none at all. I must be imagining some completely different universe where young trans women of color aren’t automatically treated like human trash. Where we all live, business as usual is to make a lot of comments about what the murder victim dressed like and looked like, reveal what her name was before she changed it, automatically assume she’s getting paid for sex, and to make excuses for the alleged killer.

• Lloyd Nixon, Location: West Palm Beach, Florida, Cause of Death: Repeatedly beat in the head with a brick, Date of Death: April 16, 2008, Lloyd was 45 years old.
• Memphis, TN - Tears well up in Claudia Blair’s eyes when she thinks about her 20 year-old cousin, Ebony (Rodney) Whitaker, as a child.

  “I used to change his diapers,” she says. “He was a good child. How all this ended up…abandoned building, clothes everywhere, condoms…he didn’t have to die like that. He didn’t.”

  Claudia and her 19 year-old daughter Porshia, say whoever killed Ebony (Rodney), killed a young man with a heart of gold. A young man, they say, whose family always suspected she was gay.

• This is an extremely upsetting story about a man who went on a date with a trans woman, and, upon discovering she still had male genitalia, bludgeoned her to death. I’m not going to recount the details of the gruesome murder, which you can find at the link if you are so inclined, but I want to highlight one thing that the murderer, Allen Ray Andrade, said to investigators while describing the murder: His first attempt failed, and he was surprised to discover Angie Zapata was still alive, as he thought he had “killed it.”
• WAILUKU » The stabbing death of a transvestite last month under a highway overpass in Makiki was not a hate crime, Honolulu police Detective Theodore Coons said Thursday.

  Coons said that while the motive is still not known, the victim, Jason L. Namauu, and his alleged assailant, Joel Chris Allen, knew each other and appeared to have been living in the same car.

  Namauu, 35, a former Maui resident, was allegedly stabbed repeatedly by Allen in the car near Cartwright Neighborhood Park in Makiki at about 6:30 p.m. July 17.

• On August 20, Nakhia Williams, an African American transgender woman, was found by police outside her Louisville, Kentucky apartment beside a dumpster. She died of multiple wounds including a gun shot wound. Williams was transported to The University of Louisville Hospital where she died 10 days later. Subsequent media coverage of her murder by WLKY-CBS 32 and WDRB-Fox 41 used inaccurate terminology, including male pronouns, and failed to use Williams’ correct name. There have been no follow-up stories offered by Louisville media outlets covering the investigation of this crime.
• The body of the transgender woman who was found in the American River in Sacramento last week has been identified by police as Ruby (nee Fernando) Molina. The police are citing it as a “suspicious” death and need more information: Anyone who knew the victim, the victim’s recent whereabouts, or who has other information about this case is asked to contact the Sacramento Police Department at (916) 443-HELP. A $1,000 reward is currently being offered
• A Des Moines teenager is accused of committing a hate crime Friday night after he allegedly threw bricks at some men near an East Village gay bar and called them anti-homosexual names, according to Des Moines police.

  Sander “Sam” O’Dale Johnson, 18, of 912 24th St. in Des Moines, was arrested for assault with a hate crime and violation of individual rights, records show.

  Police also suspect Johnson and his friends may have been involved with a similar hate crime on Sept. 6 that also happened near the Blazing Saddle bar in the 400 block of East Fifth Street.

• Last week, Todd Metrokin, whose brutal beating on Kalorama Road we wrote about, told City Desk police were close to making an arrest in his case. Today, via the Washington Blade, we learned one unnamed juvenile has been charged.
• A Magna man has been charged with attacking a Salt Lake man apparently because he was gay.

  Fa Junior Moimoi, 20, took a picture with an 18-year-old man he met Aug. 9 at an overlook of the city on Churchill Drive, according to charges filed Thursday in 3rd District Court. A girl with Moimoi asked the teen if he was gay, and later Moimoi and four other men attacked the teen and his friends, according to the charges.

  Moimoi faces two counts of aggravated assault, a first-degree felony, and one count of misdemeanor assault.

• (Bourbonnais, Illinois) An elementary school bus driver has been charged with leading a homophobic attack on a 10-year old student passenger.

  The Kankakee Sheriff’s Police Department said that the boy was taunted by the driver who then encouraged other students to chase and beat the child.

  Chief Deputy Ken McCabe said the incident occurred on a Bourbonnais Elementary School District bus which was returning students to their homes last Friday.

  McCabe said the driver repeatedly called the boy “gay.”

• PORTLAND (NEWS CENTER) — Police in Portland are investigating what they say was a random, hate crime that left a man unconscious. Investigators say the victim was assaulted because his attackers thought he was gay.

  The victim was hospitalized. He is now at home recovering from a head injury.

  It happened early Saturday morning near the corner of Forest and Cumberland Avenues. Police say the victim was walking home when he was approached by Two men. The men used homophobic slurs and proceeded to attack him.

• He does not want to get a handgun, but a Boston man who was among four people victimized in what authorities say was a homophobic attack wants to start carrying pepper spray.

  “I’m very, very nervous,” said Jeff, who asked that his last name not be published. “I am going to be very cautious.”

  Jeff was interviewed yesterday hours after a Framingham man pleaded not guilty to four counts of civil rights violations and multiple counts of assault and battery for his alleged role in the Aug. 24 attack in the South End.

• Rest in peace, Greg McKendry.
  Rest in peace, Linda Kraeger.

  You were loved, and will be missed.

Non-Action

“Ten years later, Shepard’s mom sees little change”

CHEYENNE, Wyoming (AP) — Matthew Shepard’s mother still mourns lost opportunities to battle hate crimes and promote a greater tolerance of gays in the 10 years since her 21-year-old son was beaten, tied to a wooden fence and left for dead in a frigid Wyoming pasture.

Though Congress has not passed a federal hate crime law, Judy Shepard is buoyed by enhanced punishments for crimes based on sexual orientation in 31 states and the District of Columbia.

“Ten years have gone by and not that much has changed, and I think that’s just really disappointing,” said Shepard, who with her husband formed the Matthew Shepard Foundation to promote equality for the gay community.

“We passed up a golden opportunity to set things in motion and make a change and set an example and let it go,” she said.

In a case that outraged gay activists and their advocates around the country, Matthew Shepard died October 12, 1998, five days after he was kidnapped, robbed and pistol-whipped by two men he met in a bar. Both men are serving life in prison for the murder, which police said was partly motivated by the fact that Matthew was gay.

Sources:
www.brainyquote.com
www.rightwingwatch.org
People for the American Way
http://www.washblade.com
Associated Press
www.southernvoice.com
www.washingtonblade.com
www.ktla.com
www.dallasvoice.com
www.uiargonaut.com
www.outinindy.com
www.ebar.com
www.whec.com
www.baltimoresun.com
www.hatecrimesbill.org
misstrgendered.blogspot.com
www.q-notes.com
www.pridesource.com
www.feministe.us
www.transgenderdor.org/?page_id=58
transgriot.blogspot.com
Shakesville.com
archives.starbulletin.com
www.glaad.org
www.myhusbandbetty.com
www.desmoinesregister.com
www.washingtoncitypaper.com
www.deseretnews.com
www.365gay.com/
www.wcsh6.com
www.boston.com
Shakesville.com

*This is by no means a comprehensive list. If there are incidents of crimes against the LGBTQ Community that you would like to add, or personal experiences you would like to share, please leave them in the comments section.

–WKW

SALT LAKE CITY — Flush with the confidence that can only come when you’ve run a campaign to take away someone’s rights as a human being, leading American Evangelicals are looking at other ways to change California’s Constitution to take away the rights of Blacks to use public restrooms, the rights of Latinos to procreate, and the rights of Muslims to live, sources say.

The new strategy apparently goes hand-in-hand with Evangelicals’ hard work to pass Proposition 8 in California, which will eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry. While most Californians had preferred to vote no on the controversial proposition which would make a Constitutional amendment that removes the rights of anyone who doesn’t conform to “straight” marriage, a recent push by the Church of Latter-Day Saints and other Christians has gained more traction, leaving Evangelicals confident in a victory.

“Gay marriage destroys the real meaning of marriage,” said singer Marie Osmond. “Gay marriage has already destroyed my first two marriages. We can’t allow more victims like myself and my ex-husbands.”

In a memo passed down by evangelical leaders, the Rights Elimination Unit of the American Evangelical Movement will soon be looking to further appease their Gods by working to take away certain rights of African-Americans, Latinos and Muslims.

“We’re just steps away from showing the gays that they have a choice to make, be gay or be human,” said conservative columnist Orson Scott Card. “And after this, we’ll be going after all the other unnatural things going on in California. To me, this is like Ender’s Game becoming a reality.”

Should Proposition 8 pass, Evangelicals have a plethora of rights they want to take away from California citizens, including - the rights of African-Americans to use the restroom outside of their home, the rights of Latinos to procreate, and the rights of Muslims to live.

“We’re starting slow and building up to a crescendo,” said Card. “If we don’t protect Californian society, who will?”

The new Propositions Evangelicals plan on actively pursuing in 2010:

• Californians for Clean Water Initiative. Constitutional Amendment: Changes the California Constitution to eliminate the right of African-Americans to urinate or defecate outside of their own homes. Provides that only non-African-Americans will be allowed to use public restrooms.

  “This is important for just so many reasons,” said Evergreen International chairman Larry Richman. “The rights of non-African-Americans to use public restrooms without having to be near African-Americans have never been protected. More than anything, this is about freedom.”

• Save the Blessed Children Initiative. Constitutional Amendment: Changes the California Constitution to eliminate the right of Latino, Hispanics, and/or Mexicans to procreate. Provides that only children conceived between a non-Latino, Hispanic, and/or Mexican will be recognized in California.

  “No one is saying that Latinos can’t have children,” said NFL representative Miles McPherson. “But California has so many problems with immigration, this is a step that needs to be taken. If Latinos want to have children, they can go back to Mexico. How hard is that? They still have the freedom to chose.”

• Kill the Muslims Initiative. Constitutional Amendment: Changes the California Constitution to eliminate the right of Muslims to live. Provides that only the killing of non-Muslims will be considered Murder and that the killing of a Muslim will be treated the same as the killing of a small bug or a plant.

  “We’re not even going to have to campaign for this one,” said skateboarder Brian Sumner. “It’s just a no-brainer during these terrifying times. Muslims have a right to live, just not in California. It’s a matter of choice.”

While some may feel that supporters of taking away individuals rights to marry as they choose are celebrating too early, Republican Presidential nominee John McCain - a supporter of Proposition 8 - said he sees victory as a sure thing.

“We know that real Americans don’t take for the gay stuff of those ones,” said McCain. “I spent more than five years in a Vietnam prison camp to protect the freedom of American evangelicals to take away the freedoms of these pretend Americans. Once I win the Presidency, it’s important that we adhere to Federalist beliefs, and let American evangelicals decide who deserves the freedoms this nation guarantees.”



–WKW