I would like to point out that unfortunately there is ignorance and bigotry all over the US and the world. I think it is sad that a town like Laramie, which has a lot of good people, is marked as a stereotype of small-mindedness and intolerance.
Has Anything Changed?
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Posted By: it's just me@26 @ 10/10/2008 1:10:48 PM
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Posted By: hmjohnson342 @ 10/10/2008 1:02:39 PM
My school performed the Laramie Project 5 years ago. I was not in high school then but I recall how much my community loved it. It was also performed at our state acting conference. Our town has never been prouder. I come from a small conservative town in Oregon. We all go to church and love Jesus. Jesus is more concerned about you loving him and loving your neighbor and brother than about you hating others. It makes me sad and lose faith in people when I read what some people have written. It makes me realize that we are in a very troubled and sad world. Jesus is not up in heaven shaking a fist, he is hanging his head and crying, as am I. I am a sixteen year old straight girl who has just lost faith in the world
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Posted By: american_dream_is_gone @ 10/10/2008 12:08:30 AM
Its soo funny how all these so called straight people think that gays are immoral and engage in immoral sexual behavior when straight people engage in VERY immoral sexual behavior times ten!!!
GO TO A COLLEGE FRAT PARTY AND SEE HOW IT IS!!!!!!!
YOUR DAUGHTERS WILL PROBABLY BE UNDER THE PILE OF GUYS GANG BANGING HER!!!!!-
Posted By: Justlearning08 @ 10/10/2008 12:41:14 PM
I couldn't agree with you more. When a straight person has sex with a person or person(s) of the opposite sex it is called experimenting
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Posted By: Blades in Playa @ 10/10/2008 12:08:13 PM
Is this 2008??? How dare you recite the "words of Jesus" to the point of hatred and selfishness, I think we hear this from enough politicians we don't need it from people who never took the time to listen ( to Jesus or really ANYONE ) and say something as hurtful as " damned to hell". YOU have no compassion my fellow Human Being...thats what we are...ALL of us!
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Posted By: Natalie1892 @ 10/10/2008 7:35:51 AM
american_dream_is_gone . You do not have to be so crude . America may call themselves as an open society . But really it is as conservative as an asian one . It may not be obvious but its there . Buried under all our so called policies and campaigns that support gays , racism . Even though there aren't many cases being reported . I bet every single day someone is being teased because of who they are and what they are .
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Posted By: cocoerica @ 10/09/2008 9:42:01 PM
I admire those groups working for GLBT, also those online services like the one **BiLoves dotcom**. Members there are very active. Hope you are the one.Many of my friends there have spent their careers working for equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons. I think they are really very great. If you often are online, you may find what you are looking more easily.
bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons. I think they are really very great.
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Posted By: Nowforthetruth @ 10/09/2008 7:29:10 PM
From: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/rnc-obama--acorn-fact/story.aspx?guid=%7B29569FA1-136D-4B95-9D51-4EF9E87ED547%7D&dist=hppr
Obama's Campaign Paid Over $800,000 To ACORN For Get-Out-The-Vote Efforts, But "Mistakenly Misrepresented" Their Work To The FEC:
Obama's Campaign "Paid More Than $800,000" To ACORN For Get-Out-The Vote Efforts; The Campaign Originally "Misrepresented" The Group's Work To The FEC. "U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign paid more than $800,000 to an offshoot of the liberal Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now for services the Democrat's campaign says it mistakenly misrepresented in federal reports. An Obama spokesman said Federal Election Commission reports would be amended to show Citizens Services Inc. -- a subsidiary of ACORN -- worked in 'get-out-the-vote' projects, instead of activities such as polling, advance work and staging major events as stated in FEC finance reports filed during the primary." (David M. Brown, "Obama To Amend Report On $800,000 In Spending," Pittsburgh Tribune Review, 8/22/08)
The link below describes how some in Congress tried to use the original version of the bailout bill to divert money eventually recovered to groups like ACORN, a group Obama has a long association with. See:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122247015469280723.html?mod=googlenews_wsj-
Posted By: bartsimpson2008 @ 10/09/2008 8:39:17 PM
Your post has nothing to do with this article and you sound like an unbalanced right wing nazi!
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Posted By: Cavallino_Rapante @ 10/09/2008 12:48:15 PM
The 'Political Correctness' doctrine of the Liberal Left requires 'sensitivity' to the Homosexual - at the expense to the Heterosexual. Let's be honest here - 'tolerance' does not in any way equate with 'love' or even 'like'.....it is just on the edge of "I'm not going to verbally or physically assault you". And that's all "Political Correctness' should strive for, but often over-reaches beyond the boundaries into the lives of Heterosexuals who have different views and values. In America, people are allowed to have a wide variety of views and values - so, somewhere, "Political Correctness" must retreat.
BTW, last time I checked, ANY murder was a 'hate crime'. GIving special-status to violence against Gays only says that Gays are 'worth more' to society than anyone else, and that's just fundametally wrong to any other murder victim. You don't kill someone because you like/love them....DUH.-
Posted By: C. MacLean @ 10/09/2008 1:47:31 PM
To Cavallino_Rapanta - BTW, last time I checked, no one was murdering heterosexuals because of their sexual inclinations.
Any time someone is targeted precisely because they have different beliefs, different color skin, or different sexual practices IT IS A HATE CRIME.
Tolerance IS the goal, but when people persist in legal discrimination of groups of people because they are a minority, legislation is required for their protection.
To argue that "gays are worth 'more' to society than anyone else" shows how little you are paying attention. Gays (and other minorities that are routinely discriminated against), unfortunately, are worth less in our society, and that needs to change. If it takes legislation to do so, let's get on with it.
I do believe, however, that the horrific nature of Matthew's death was a turning point in this country, because it made the reasonable among us sit up and say, "no, this is not acceptable, we don't accept hate as a value."
The unreasonable, of course, are still unreasonable.
Lack of knowledge can be fixed - ignorance goes on forever.-
Posted By: Lee Holmes @ 10/09/2008 3:35:32 PM
I may hopefully assume that the Ist Amendments protections of religion and speech apply in this ''legislation''.[which you cannot apply to ''tolerance''anyway,as we are already seeing with this election].
This was a central portion of the debate within the two APAs[Psychiatric and Psychological] back in 2000. A gay-affirming bloc of doctors within the groups attempted to attach the ''phobia''of gays onto the religious due to their belief systems. It thus made the religiously-held ''phobia''a crime in states where ''homophobia''is addressed in state hate crimes laws,and also made religious belief itself a mental disorder. This platform was struck down,but just barely. [atheists ,such as Bill Maher can debate this all day long and come up with their own conclusions. Yet the ironclad protections of this nations Constitution remain in effect,as well as those taken up by other international bodies including the ICC and UN regarding not merely religious belief systems,but ideas that others hold to be ''offensive or repugnant''].
Thus,there must be a balancing act between protecting future Matthew Shepards and protecting those who may respectfully disagree with the tenets of homosexuality. Pass to the fact that ''no-one is killing heterosexuals''for such reasons as Matthews for being gay ,and I am unsure of this. Why are only women being serial murdered along the US /Mexican border in and near Laredo, Texas? [perhaps hundreds have already been killed since the 1980s on the Mexican side]. Does sexuality play a part in such killings? [or an aversion to female heterosexuality]. Obviously,''hate as a value''is easily mallable. Those who claim to be the most tolerant are often the least. A person with a ''Hate Is Not A Family Value''sticker on the SUV may hate a Palin or a Bush or their percieved political ideologies to the depths of their souls. College students,such as those at UC Berkeley,may fight vigorously for the rights of gays to be treated fairly,and then go on window-smashing,car-burning,anti-Semitic rampages for not getting their way in other areas. Thus there is credence in the position that
''the unreasonable...are still unreasonable''.[even though they would be the last to see it as such].-
Posted By: ghostmasseur @ 10/09/2008 3:52:29 PM
"I may hopefully assume that the Ist Amendments protections of religion and speech apply in this ''legislation''.[which you cannot apply to ''tolerance''anyway,as we are already seeing with this election]."
I agree that fredopm of religion must be protected on this issue. But IF a mini9ster (such as Fred Phelps) tells his followers that killing gays is OK (and there have been other instances where pastors have made similar statements) then they have abrogated their right to claim free speech or freedom of religion.
"Thus,there must be a balancing act between protecting future Matthew Shepards and protecting those who may respectfully disagree with the tenets of homosexuality."
Again Lee I agree. I may find people who use thier religion as an excuse to hate (whtere it is gays, blacks, women, Jews, Christians, etc.) repugnant and brainless. But they have the right to feel the way they do. But I think that you would agree that try to deny equal rights to others because of some doctrine found in thieir religion, that is when they have crossed the line.
"Pass to the fact that ''no-one is killing heterosexuals''for such reasons as Matthews for being gay ,and I am unsure of this. Why are only women being serial murdered along the US /Mexican border in and near Laredo, Texas? [perhaps hundreds have already been killed since the 1980s on the Mexican side]. Does sexuality play a part in such killings?"
It may be sexuality, butsince it is women being targetted, it is more likely sexism and not heterosexuality.
"A person with a ''Hate Is Not A Family Value''sticker on the SUV may hate a Palin or a Bush or their percieved political ideologies to the depths of their souls."
True, but those people are not trying to physically harm them and kill them. And you are talking about specific individuals who have misused thier power to promote thier agendas. I know very few peole who hate Bush or Palin who extend that visceral hatred to ALL conservatives.
"College students,such as those at UC Berkeley,may fight vigorously for the rights of gays to be treated fairly,and then go on window-smashing,car-burning,anti-Semitic rampages for not getting their way in other areas."
What incident are you referring to?-
Posted By: Lee Holmes @ 10/09/2008 5:11:23 PM
''Incident'' should have been actually replaced in plural.
In April and again in May of 2002,students at UC Berkeley went on a several day rampage against Jewish students that included assault and battery and vandalism aimed at the universties Jewish HILLAL House Center[thus,they should have,by your lights, been charged and sentanced with a hate crime,but not one student saw the bar of justice for these actions,thus ''hate'',as we see, is a mallable emotion always subject to interpretation].
They were acting in support and in concert with pro-Palestinian student factions who reacted violently to a settlement plan announced by Israeli PM Ariel Sharon,and took their anger out on American Jews in American cities,with Jewish students the targets of threats and violence in of all places,San Francisco at its state university and LAs UCLA where Orthodox Jewish students with their recognizible hair style and clothing were savagely beaten.'''F..K The Jews'',''Hitler Didn't Finish The Job'', signs were in profusion,or scrawled as graffitti on HILLAL House property.Cinder blocks were thrown through the windows of the Center,and several vehicles were torched.
The Daily Bruin [University Newspaper of UCLA],July 29,2002: ''Gov.Davis Adresses Anti-Semitism''
The San Francisco Chronicle Apr.05,2002:''UC Berkekeys Conflicts Mirror Mideast Pain''
The San Francisco Chonicle Apr.12,2002: Editorial Page. ''Open Letters By The Chancellors of UC Berkeley and SF State''[both chancellors pleading for the violence and racial intolerance to cease].
The Anti-Defamation League www.adl.org Archives. April-May 2002:''Hate On Campus''.-
Posted By: ghostmasseur @ 10/09/2008 8:00:32 PM
Lee,
I agree with you completely. Based on what you said (and I do thank you for you detailed post) those students should have been charged with hate crimes. There is unfortunately a double standard at times and that must be corrected. We are actually on the exact same page about that.
One little correction. It is Hillel not Hillal. The B'nai Brith Hillel Foundation is an internation organizational division of the B'nai Brith Foundation focused on providing Jewish College Students with cultural, spiritual, community and even counselling services. It also acts as a teaching resoruce for the entire student body and the surrounding community. Just thought you might like to know that, in case you did not already know it.
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Posted By: ghostmasseur @ 10/09/2008 4:00:26 PM
"BTW, last time I checked, ANY murder was a 'hate crime'."
Not at all. PAid killers rarely hate thier targets. For them it is jsut a job. They love the money and they are sociopaths/psychoths (or at least exhibit some of the tendencies of same). People who murder others while committing a crime rarely hate their vicitms, they just have no regard for life or are engaging in gang/group activities (although some gang-based killlings are very much hate-inspred.).
The issue is that the vicitms of hate-crimes are targetted primarily because they are members of a larger targetted group (usually one that they are members of not by choice but by birth [and the LGBT commuity does fall into that definition). If a black killed a white SOLELY/primarily because they were white, THAT would qualify as a hate-crime. If a gay killed a straight SOLEY/primarily because they were straight, THAT would be a hate-crime. It adds one extra level of severity to the crime. But it should be applied equally and fairly.-
Posted By: Lee Holmes @ 10/09/2008 6:43:08 PM
It is not,however,particularly in regards to violence-without-death. As we have heretofore seen,not one student at any of the three major universities was ever tried for anti-Semitic violence that is contstrued in the state of California under its laws as a ''hate crime''. Quite literally,no-one was ever arrested,despite campus police presence and dozens if not hundreds of eyewitnesses.
This is the sticky wicket of hate-crimes application. As it stands,a black or latino perp will more likely get off than a white,except in gay bias crimes. A less educated white will suffer more than one who is in university or college,poorer perps, rather than wealthier. Unfortunately,as we have not been able to fairly apply justice to individuals with laws already on the books,there is no reason to believe that attaching hate crimes on a national level will get us any further towards ''equal''or ''impartial'' justice. Indeed,mob-mentality could actually go further in seeing that justice would not be served. Some illumination may be found here.
FBI Uniform Crime Reports www.doj.gov
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Posted By: Lee Holmes @ 10/09/2008 7:21:33 PM
And of course alot has changed. Especially for gays themselves. Domestic violence in this group has risen sharply since 1998,a sign that more allowed and open living arrangments [or ''unions''] are resulting in ''contempt by familiarity'',as relationships,especially among white gays,are more lasting and less furtive than in past years resulting in violence brought on by percieved or actual ''affairs''. Then too,gay publications including the BAY AREA GUARDIAN ,are reporting on a newer phenomenon,the ''straight-laced gay''.
These individuals,usually older and with more established income,and with the right of adoption,[the family gay],is coming into conflict with the single ''Bar and Leather gay''. The straightlacers are complaining of having to escort their kids past leather shops and ''grind''bars in Friscos Castro District,while the leathers and ''huskies''complain that they are being uptight. The family side wants the leather side to clean up its act,thus displaying a unique return to 1950s-1960s mores. This has resulted in ''road shows'',where leather and ''husky'' gays begin encroaching on towns and cities outside of their traditional range,thus bringing them in conflict with townspeople, with their more overt exhibitions of open sex,fashion and clothing [or lack of it],drug use,noise,and macho behaviors,often bulging jails at the seams to the point where tickets are issued for future court appearences depending on the offense much like biker rallies.
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Posted By: joe 6pack @ 10/09/2008 6:36:06 PM
We were told that this University of Wyoming student was murdered simply because he was a homosexual. The truth is that he was the victim of a robbery gone bad by two drug addicts. What's more, Shepard was also a heavy drug user who was HIV-positive. Not only were the perpetrators of this brutal crime not "homophobes," but one of them knew Shepherd and was allegedly bisexual. The real story of the Matthew Shepard case, as the prosecutor says on "20/20," concerns the dangers of methamphetamine. The two killers and Shepard were big meth users.
http://www.aim.org/media-monitor/exploiting-matthew-shepard/
Not only was Shepard HIV positive, this looks like a gay on gay crime.
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Posted By: american_dream_is_gone @ 10/09/2008 10:55:30 AM
ITS SO FUNNY HOW PEOPLE THINK THAT THE GAYS AND LESBOS ARE GOING TO DESTROY AMERICA,,
NOT A CHANCE IN HELL!!!!!!!!!!
THE GREEDY CORPORATE SCUMBAGS AND THE MORONS IN WASHINGTON ARE RUINING AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!
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Posted By: sieg6529 @ 10/09/2008 10:02:35 AM
Evidence that we are still the home of the free* and that we enjoy equal treatment* under the law (unless you are gay, which will supposedly be the ruination of society before all else)
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Posted By: TheVigil @ 10/09/2008 10:47:24 AM
Well, you know, gay marriage caused the Irish potato famine. All the potatoes caught the gay, and couldn't reproduce.
I think it killed the dinosaurs too.
And the saddest thing is that some people won't even recognize this post as sarcasm...
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Posted By: TheVigil @ 10/09/2008 10:29:29 AM
The treatment of gays and lesbians in the U.S. is unfair, and probably unconstitutional.
"Separate but equal" is such a great way to promote equality in our country, right?
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