Karl R
Active Member
Last night I was standing at the bus stop when I heard someone yelling. I turned and saw a man leaning out of the window of his pickup truck, and as he drove by he screamed anti-gay obscenities at me.
The insults didn't bother me. I really don't care what homophobes think about me. But it occurred to me that I was standing about a mile from where Matthew Shepherd was beaten to death ... by a group of gay-bashers.
For the next couple minutes I kept an eye on the pickup truck ... just to make certain that he kept driving down the street, instead of making a U-turn or circling the block back to where I was.
I have no idea why this man thought I was gay (other than his room temperature IQ). I'm straight. I was wearing a black t-shirt, black pants and black shoes, so I wasn't particularly "dressed gay". I was standing alone at a bus stop reading CNN on my blackberry, so I wasn't "acting gay". I wasn't in a gay neighborhood. But this homophobe believed I was gay.
Just to clarify, I wasn't doing this either: :ymca:
Obviously, hate crimes legislation doesn't stop someone like that from trying to physically harm me (or someone else). But it does send the message that violence against people isn't acceptable ... even if a large percentage of the society doesn't like the "hated" group. And if that message helps keep bigots in their vehicles, instead of getting out and doing violence to people, then it's helping all of us.
Hate crimes sometimes involve mistaken identity. Sikhs have been attacked because they're mistaken for muslims. Anti-semites attack people who "look" jewish. That means any of us could be attacked, not just for who we are, but for who someone believes we are.
This situation is not without its comical elements. I find it amusing that the mere sight of me, standing alone at a bus stop, staring at my blackberry, was apparently enough to threaten the masculinity of this individual to the extent that he had to express himself. :woohoo:
The insults didn't bother me. I really don't care what homophobes think about me. But it occurred to me that I was standing about a mile from where Matthew Shepherd was beaten to death ... by a group of gay-bashers.
For the next couple minutes I kept an eye on the pickup truck ... just to make certain that he kept driving down the street, instead of making a U-turn or circling the block back to where I was.
I have no idea why this man thought I was gay (other than his room temperature IQ). I'm straight. I was wearing a black t-shirt, black pants and black shoes, so I wasn't particularly "dressed gay". I was standing alone at a bus stop reading CNN on my blackberry, so I wasn't "acting gay". I wasn't in a gay neighborhood. But this homophobe believed I was gay.
Just to clarify, I wasn't doing this either: :ymca:
Obviously, hate crimes legislation doesn't stop someone like that from trying to physically harm me (or someone else). But it does send the message that violence against people isn't acceptable ... even if a large percentage of the society doesn't like the "hated" group. And if that message helps keep bigots in their vehicles, instead of getting out and doing violence to people, then it's helping all of us.
Hate crimes sometimes involve mistaken identity. Sikhs have been attacked because they're mistaken for muslims. Anti-semites attack people who "look" jewish. That means any of us could be attacked, not just for who we are, but for who someone believes we are.
This situation is not without its comical elements. I find it amusing that the mere sight of me, standing alone at a bus stop, staring at my blackberry, was apparently enough to threaten the masculinity of this individual to the extent that he had to express himself. :woohoo:
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