Where is our outrage? Our sisters and brothers are being murdered!

 ”1 LGBT Person has been murdered every 8 days so far this year and these are only ones we know about.” …Fight Out Loud

On May 15, 1988 Richard Reihl a gay man from West Hartford was murdered by two teenagers. By June 7th gays and lesbians of The Connecticut Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights formed a committee called the Anti-Violence Project in response to the murder. The Project’s mission was to monitor the Reihl murder case and assist the prosecution, educate the community on how to protect ourselves from violence and to combat hate crimes in Connecticut. An organization called Speak Out was formed to educate people by talking directly to many different groups about our lives. The only remaining active part of the original Anti-Violence Project is now called the Stonewall Speakers Bureau. The Bureau mainly goes into the schools for speaking engagements.

In 1998 the news wires buzzed about the death of a 21 year old gay student who was beaten, tied to a deer fence and left to die in Laramie, Wyoming. Matthew Shepard died on October 12. The Connecticut Coalition for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Civil Rights which I was a member of, The American Apostolic Church, and The Gay, Lesbian, Straight Teachers Network and many individuals issued a call for a candle light vigil and memorial march. Over 700 people came out and gathered and marched to the Immanuel Congregational Church in the West End where a evening in remembrance of Matthew Shepard was held.

Rita Hester a Transwoman with ties to East Hartford was murdered in Boston a short time later and no response was forth coming from the community. I remain ashamed of myself and my community at that time that we did not take action upon hearing of Rita’s death as we did for Matthew Shepard. Many more of our sisters and brothers were beaten and many times killed in anti-queer violence over the years and our response has been sorely lacking. Thousands of people have been murdered up to this day. Each year we have a Transgender Day of Remembrance but I believe that we must act when murder and incidents of violence against our people are reported or if these deaths are not reported in the main stream media we must hold those powers that be accountable.  We must Stand Up and Speak OUT!

Where is Our Outrage!

Already in the first two months of this year 7 of our people have been murdered and these are only ones that we know about. There have been numerous cases of hate crimes against our sisters and brothers all around the country. Here in Hartford what have we done in response? What have we done to educated people in our community and in the greater community about what has happened? What have we done to called together our sisters and brothers in remembrance. What have we done to to speak out against the bashers, murders and anti-Queer bigots?  Again I must say that I am ashamed of myself that I have done nothing to help start the ball rolling. I am fully aware that the main stream media has not covered these murders the way they should so therefore people all around this country do not know that our community is under such viscious attack. Today in 2008 it seems that our multi-issue activists have all but disappeared. It seems now-a-days that we all have fallen into our own single issue responses. We must change that. We must understand that when our people in Fort Lauderdale are terrorized beaten and left for dead, that we in Hartford, New Haven, Avon and Simsbury are also terrorized and bashed. That when one of our sisters and brothers are murdered that a message is being sent to us all no matter where we live. We must realize that when religious leaders, elected government officials, candidates for public office speak out against us that they too must be held accountable as much as the thug in the street. As Lorri L. Jean, CEO of the LA Gay and Lesbian Center stated “The thug in the street pulls the trigger but they load the gun.” (note to the center: you may want to add Bisexual and Transgender to your name.) We can no longer remain quiet as some wage open hunting season on us. We must stand up and speak out no matter where these criminals are or these crimes take place.

Fight Out Loud is a national non-profit organization dedicated to empowering GLBT individuals and their allies to fight discrimination and hate. Fight Out Loud’s recent statement puts it all into perspective for us. “1 GLBT person has been murdered every 8 days so far this year, and that is just the ones we know about.” Fight Out Loud can be reached at www.fightoutloud.org. A feature of their site is an Action Alert Team which acts as a call to the community and its supporters to take specific action when cases are reported concerning discrimination. They have also published a very haunting video about 7 of our people who have been murdered since the first of the year. There is also a step by step Action Menu which is set up for individuals who are faced with discrimination and hate. Fight Out Loud uses all their resources to get a positive resolution for each person. Look them up.     

Queers Without Borders, Ct. TransAdvocacy Coalition would like to join with others in coalition to respond to those who verbally or physically bash us and to stand against those who murder our people. We really need a watchdog committee and a response team to get the message out to the community when one of our people are bashed, harassed, or murdered. And then we as a community need to take action and stand up and out and say NO MORE!