A More Subtle Devil

As I wrote last night, and as you may have seen online, last weekend's march was incredible.

Nothing like coming home and looking around to jolt one back to the why.  Why were we there?  

We were there demanding equality in all civil matters under the law.  Having two sets of laws is hateful and hurtful.

Yet lurking beneath the surface of these apartheid-like laws is another why; a more subtle devil.  When we have a different set of laws for one group, it sends the signal to our fellow citizens that that group doesn't deserve to be treated with respect.  With civility or decency.  Our separate laws create a universal, codified thought process that declares us less than.  Not worthy.  Unequal.  

With that in our collective unconscious, is violence really such a distant leap?

Ask Jack Price.  Although he won't be able to answer you.  He was brutally beaten and is currently being treated "for a fractured jaw, rib fractures and a lacerated spleen."  What did he do to provoke such a vicious attack?  He is gay.  He went to buy cigarettes at the wrong time at the wrong deli in Queens.  The last update I saw described Jack Price, 5"6' and 130 lbs, as fighting for his life.  Apparently there is video footage of the attack.  I've read that it is graphic.  I can not watch human beings commit violence against one another and have not watched it.

But then there is hope for the future.  Dave Burk, a teacher at Geneva High School posed this question to his students:  "How would you feel about your tax dollars going to pay some black fag in New York to take pictures of other black fags?"  Why do I call this hope?  Where is the silver lining?  The silver lining is openly gay Geneva High School student Jordan Hunter, who is taking Mr. Burk to task for his offensive remarks.  Not only is Jordan Hunter a strong young man, he also seems to be smart and funny as well.  Of Mr. Burk, Jordan said, "If he wants to talk about a poor place to put our tax dollars, I think his salary is a poor place to put our tax dollars."  He believes that David Burk should be fired for his remarks.

In this strong young man I see hope for the future.

More tomorrow.