Tag Archives: hate crimes

Police searching the home of Tennessee church shooter Jim David Adkisson found the following books: “Liberalism is a Mental Health Disorder” by radio talk show host Michael Savage, “Let Freedom Ring” by talk show host Sean Hannity, and “The O’Reilly Factor,” by television talk show host Bill O’Reilly. I’m sure those three’s chests are swelling with pride today. Seriously. I …

Days after the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville put up a sign welcoming gays to worship, yesterday a gunman shouting “hateful words” killed two people and injured seven others during a youth performance of the musical Annie at the church. The gunman was tackled by congregants and eventually taken into police custody. Jim D. Adkisson, 58, was charged …

Acting on a petition filed by the Christianist group Repent America, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has upheld a lower court’s ruling that struck down that state’s 2002 hate crimes law, saying it was inappropriately attached to an unrelated bill. Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision striking down amendments that added sexual orientation, gender identity, ancestry, gender, and mental …

A Ventura County, California judge has ruled that the 14-year-old killer of gay teen Lawrence King will be tried as an adult. Relying on past court decisions, a judge ruled Thursday that trying a 14-year-old boy accused of murder in an adult court does not violate the constitution, swatting down legal arguments raised by the boy’s attorney that it was …

Ahmet Yidlz, a 26 year-old old gay man, was murdered in Turkey last week in what some are calling the country’s first gay “honor” killing. In a corner of Istanbul today, the man who might be described as Turkey’s gay poster boy will be buried – a victim, his friends believe, of the country’s deepening friction between an increasingly liberal …

A beloved Episcopal priest and several transgender youth were attacked Monday in a possible hate crime outside of a shelter for LGBT youth in Queens. A priest who runs a shelter specializing in outreach to homeless transgender youths was beaten with construction equipment and paint cans by a group of teenagers in a possible hate crime, authorities said Tuesday. Two …

Hungarian nationalists fire-bombed a Budapest bathhouse yesterday as that city readied for this weekend’s gay pride events. A gay establishment in the Hungarian capital has been targeted, the second attack in a week. Four petrol bombs were thrown into sauna called Magnum in the early hours of yesterday morning. One man was slightly injured by fumes. The bombers had called …

More fuel for the Matthew Shepard Act, sadly. A report released Tuesday shows that violent attacks on members of the LGBT community nationwide grew by 24 percent in 2007 over the previous year. The 78-page report was prepared by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs with input from more than 30 of its members across the U.S. The number of …

The British embassy in Belgrade will issue a pamphlet of “advice” to gay fans heading to the Eurovision Song Contest in Serbia this month, after fears were raised that local fascists plan to attack homosexual attendees. The British Embassy in Belgrade is funding the production of an information leaflet for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people planning to visit the …

An alliance of 27 LGBT groups is asking the Ventura County, California district attorney to try the 14-year old murderer of Lawrence King (left) as a juvenile. Here’s a statement from the alliance, which includes Lambda Legal, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, GLSEN, and the Transgender Law Center: “We are saddened and outraged by the murder of junior high …

The LA Times has an interesting piece on the continuing clash between Sacramento’s gay community and the thousands of evangelical Slavic immigrants who have relocated there in recent years. With as many as 100,000 newcomers from republics such as Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus, the Sacramento region has one of the nation’s largest concentrations of Soviet immigrants. Most began arriving …

The Los Angeles Times has published a piece investigating the backgrounds of Lawrence King and his murderer Brandon McInerney. For teens living in a shelter for abused and neglected children, school can provide a daily dose of normalcy, a place to fit in, a chance to be just another kid. It didn’t turn out that way for Lawrence King. According …

Florida’s Fight Out Loud has compiled a sobering video accounting of the violence against LGBT people in 2008, which is already shaping up to be the worst year in recent memory.

On today’s show, Ellen Degeneres makes a heartfelt commentary on the Lawrence King murder. An excerpt: “Larry was not a second class citizen. I am not a second class citizen. It is okay if you’re gay. I don’t care what people say. I don’t care what people think. And I know there are entire groups of people who face discrimination …

Via Father Tony, outgoing Task Force executive director Matt Foreman speaks a few words of encouragement from the Fort Lauderdale vigil and remembrance of murdered trans teen Simmie Williams.

Butch Samp, owner of Fort Lauderdale’s Floridian Diner, has offered a $5000 reward for information leading to the capture of the person that committed a brutal gay-bashing at his restaurant earlier this week. Police are looking for a 2002 or similar year, sage green, four-door Toyota Tacoma pickup truck with a bed cover and roll bar. A police report of …

“Clearly, the answer to Jamaica’s love affair with lynching is an aggressive campaign designed to put the clamp on tourism – particularly the cruise industry. The goal should be to strangle Jamaica’s economy and force the island to change or suffer severe consequences. With tourism Jamaica’s second largest source of revenue, such a campaign could have a powerful impact that …

Press release from Waymon Hudson of Florida’s Fight OUT Loud: Fight OUT Loud is very disturbed to learn of the recent string of anti-gay crimes in Broward County. First, there was the senseless murder of 17 year-old Simmie Williams Jr, which Police are investigating as a possible hate crime based on his sexual orientation or gender identity. Then, a gay …

The Lawrence King story got in-depth coverage on Anderson Cooper 360 last night. Some new details were revealed including that King’s killer may have been bullied himself. (Via – Towleroad.)

More ugly Florida news today. A gay man was brutally beaten at the Floridian, a popular diner on Fort Lauderdale’s gorgeous Las Olas Boulevard, after his partner said “good morning” to another patron. Police are searching for a man driven by hate, who beat a gay man and threatened him and his partner, after they finished a meal at an …