It amazes me that we live in a “Christian Nation.” On an almost dailybasis I hear some one on the radio or television touting “MoralValues” and “family values.” I am absolutely amazed at these people.We live in a country that has no federal protection against hatecrimes that are committed because of a person’s sexual orientation orgender identity/expression. It has been rumored that the currentadministration does not believe in the need for “hate crimes” laws andthat murder is just murder. If you have been a victim of a hate crimeor know some one that has been, you know that the types of haterelated crimes committed against a person are atrocious. I guess I amon this tirade after participating in my second Transgender Day ofRemembrance. When you hear how these people are killed it isappalling. It’s not shot, it’s shot 10 times. It’s not beaten, it’sbeaten to death. It’s not stabbed its stabbed in the face, neck, andchest 29 times. Or even more so, it’s stabbed, beaten, strangled,sexually mutilated, and then burned. This does not seem like moralvalues to me. When I hear ministers on TV saying that “Pedro Zamora(real world TV star) deserved to die of AIDS, because he was a faggot”That Matthew Shepherd deserved to be brutally murdered, because he wasqueer. Or the paramount comment I heard was from an Assemblies of Godminister stating that if a gay man walking down the street flirtedwith him he would, “kill him and tell God he died on accident.” Thishappens to be the same one that got caught with a hooker and it wasnot trying to convert her. We live in a nation where a president wantspass legislation to discriminate and disenfranchise people by amendingthe constitution. He refuses to realize the true sanctity of marriagegoes way back before gay marriage came to play. Most of the lesbian,gay, bisexual and transgender people I know have very healthy, happyand long term relationships. I cannot say that is a stereotype of thestraight people I know.
David StoltzFormer Student/Social Work