Earlier this week, Andy at Towleroad made us aware of the brutal and senseless gay bashing of a 72 year old resident of Detroit. Today, the victim, Andrew Anthos, died from his injuries:
Though Anthos, 72, was visiting with friends as recently as Wednesday, his condition declined rapidly in the past two days and he was administered the last rites late Thursday in Detroit Receiving Hospital.Don't tell us hate crimes don't matter. Don't tell us we don't need protections. Don't tell us we need to move on. Don't tell us that while members of our community are still being bashed. And, don't be mistaken: We're still not safe in America.
The attack, which left Anthos paralyzed from the neck down and virtually without speech, shocked the gay community, which reached out to his family with love and support -- as well as anger and a resolve for justice.
"There's going to be a great deal more attention now that this, unfortunately, has become a homicide," said Jeffrey Montgomery of Michigan's Triangle Foundation.
"We have worked with prosecutors here for many years, and all the buttons that can be pushed are being pushed right now," Montgomery said.
And a quick note: The religious right is lying to you. They say they oppose hate crimes legislation. No they don't. There already is a federal hate crimes law, and it covers the religious right (race, color, religion or national origin). What we're proposing is that the current federal law be broadened to include everyone (gender, disability and sexual orientation). The religious right is crowing about how this will make it a crime to criticize gay people. News flash, I criticize the religious right - they're a bunch of hateful loons - every day on this blog, and I'm obviously not going to jail. They're liars. If we're going to have a hate crimes law, it should cover everyone. Fair is fair.
