Antigay Violence Endangers Gays and Straights Alike....

                                         

I read about the case of an Ecuadorian immigrant beaten to death in an apparent anti-Latino and antigay hate crime in December. "Jose Sucuzhanay was beaten after leaving a party at a church. Police arrested Hakim Scott, 25, on Tuesday and charged him with second degree murder as a hate crime. A second suspect is still at large."

"On December 7, 2008, police say Jose Sucuzhanay and his brother Romel had left a party at a church and were embracing each other to keep warm in the cold when Scott and another man approached them in a car in Brooklyn's Bushwick section, about a block from the brothers' home. Police say the two assailants shouted antigay and anti-Latino vulgarities and attacked the brothers."

"Jose Sucuzhanay, 31, died of his injuries in December hours before his mother arrived in New York from Ecuador. Romel Sucuzhanay, 34, suffered minor scrapes."

Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes said the incident should send a message that antigay violence endangers straights and gays alike.

How have we come to this where seeing two men hugging can make someone angry enough to get out of their car and beat you to death. Let's look at this fear we have of men being soft. As a teacher I have experienced parents who comment negatively upon seeing a boy wearing red. It's so so sad to see how fear can create such horrible and deadly results. I'm sure Hakim Scott felt real stupid having to now do time for killing two brothers and not two gay men as he had ASSumed. 

I pray to see the day when both men and women are allowed to be anywhere in that masculine/feminine spectrum and not just on the peripherals. I personally think masculine men and feminine women are overrated. I have always found men who are in touch with themselves and boyish women much more interesting than the boring-ol' mainstream paradigm. Think about it.  If all women were the same and all men were the same life would be so boring.