Theos-Talk Archives (November 2006 Message tt00796)

Just to clarify I meant no harm to the man or his family in my previous 
post. My point was that this article was brought up as an argument 
against homophobia when there were clearly OTHER POSSIBLE CAUSES of this 
violence. I reinforced this statement by presenting all of the possible 
causes that the wiki article posed, such as homophobia, drugs, and 
intent to loot the man's house. I was just restating the fact that it 
may or may not have been a hate crime, and that the article points both 
ways in this case.

For instance, if the attackers were so homophobic, why would they want 
to pretend to be gay and even speak with him for any extended period of 
time? Conversely, why would the attackers bring up the fact that he was 
gay in their initial defense? Was it just a scapegoat out of desperation 
or did they simply want to kill and rob a gay man?

My opinion stands that this is a bad case to point out the negative 
effects of homophobia, because I have not seen any consistent evidence 
that their intent was to harm a "gay man" rather than just a "man with 
valuables."

There was definitely hearsay because they not only changed their defense 
on more than one time, but told a completely different story to their 
interviewers. All we have to go on is the word of the criminals and not 
the poor man who was killed.

-Mark H.



Rodolfo Don wrote:
> Mark and Daniel.-
>
> What is wrong with "emotions" when your son was murdered because he
> was gay ? Whether or not the murder was labeled a "hate crime" both
> killers are in prison serving 2 life sentences. I remember the
> outrage of the gay community when the motive of "hate crime" was
> denied. This is what Wikipedia says:
>
> "Under current federal United States law [4] and Wyoming state law,
> [5] crimes committed on the basis of sexual orientation are not
> prosecutable as hate crimes.
>
> Shortly after the murder, President Bill Clinton urged Congress to
> add sexual orientation to the hate crimes law. The measure was
> defeated."
>
> It wasn't treated as a "hate crime" because of our own laws that are
> tainted with religious prejudices. Not because of "hearsay."
>
> With this message I'm signing off from Theos-talk. I may sign on back
> later, I don't know, but for now, I've had enough.
>
> Rodolfo Don
>
> Theosophy: Its creed is Loyalty to Truth, and its ritual 'To honour
> every truth by use.'
> From The Key to Theosophy, by H. P. Blavatsky
>
> On Nov 13, 2006, at 6:23 AM, Mark Hamilton Jr. wrote:
>
> > Thanks, the first story was a bit more encompassed by emotion than
> > facts. But the Wiki article presents the possibility that drugs were
> > involved in the murder. Homophobic behavior is generally
> > disgusting--especially when it's acted upon in a violent manner--but I
> > wouldn't use this story as a case against it because of all the
> > hearsay.
> >
> > -Mark H.
> >
> > danielhcaldwell wrote:
> > >
> > > Matthew Shepard
> > > from Wikipedia
> > >
> > > See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Shepherd 
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Shepherd>
> > > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Shepherd 
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Shepherd>>
> > >
> > > Daniel
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>