Log In | Register
In August 2010, the countries newspapers where covered with headlines about an Iranian woman who was sentenced to death by stoning. She had committed adultery and was sentenced to death via stoning. An international out cry irrupted in defense of her.
Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, 43, was sentenced to death by stoning for adultery but it was commuted to hanging after an international outcry. Her initial sentence was for "having an illicit relationship outside marriage" but Iranian officials have claimed that she was also found guilty of murdering her husband and should still face death by stoning. (source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/06/sakineh-mohammadi-ashtiani-iran-interview)
The world came to her defense and even some sources used this as an example of the violence in the Muslim faith. The charges of her killing her husband was dropped but the sentence of stoning to death remained. Murder, adultery, rape, armed robbery, apostasy and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Iran's Sharia law, enforced since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. (Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1307908/Iran-death-row-woman-Sakineh-Mohammadi-Ashtiani-hanged-stoned.html#ixzz0yUdyjDYR). So, though not humanitarian right, still a law and has been. The world responded though to the cruelty against her, and good for them...
But...
There is a group of people today that is suffering and isn't making major headlines, the world is not rallying behind them. That is the lesbian, gay and transgender community. People are dying, for doing something that is not against the law just not socially accepted, and yet, it rarely is reported in national news, usually does not carry a major headline, and do not cause international out cry. America, World, you defended a woman for being treated inhumanly. There are others that need your help. She committed adultery, that is a sin according to the the same religion that others are standing behind and saying that lesbians, gays and transgenders should be denied right AND the same people are ignoring the crimes against the LGBT community.
December 13, 2008 an openly gay woman was attacked and raped by four men, two were juveniles. Below is a statement that was made about this case by a psychology professor looking at the case.
"What you get is this kind of immature desire to display power," said Jose Feito, a psychology professor at St. Mary's College in Moraga, California. "And so they go looking for easy victims, or suitable victims." "Suitable" in the Richmond case, according to Feito, meant a victim who the perpetrators could marginalize in their minds due to her sexual orientation and gender nonconformity. "That all ties into blaming the victim, who's seen as flaunting their homosexuality. (source: http://www.civilrights.org/publications/hatecrimes/lgbt.html)
The comment that stands out to me is "Suitable victims.....a victim who perpetrators could marginalize int their minds." Why do you think these vicious men could "marginalize" her? They feel that way because she is not given equal rights (right to marry her partner), she is persecuted against in churches, parents are persecuting them in their homes. "Christians" though you yourself may not go out and do this to someone, the fact that you cast judgment, "marginalizes" these people in the minds of those that would. To them they feel like they have done God a justice, or they feel like the person is not even purely human. We argue human rights, yet we won't give equal human rights to the LGBT community, therefore, there are people out there putting those people on a "less than human" status. Unless this country is willing to openly state that all American's are human but not all equal, then they must change their laws to support that LGBT community members are human and therefore deserve the same human rights.
Another instance, a transgender was beat to death by a man with a fire extinguisher, when the cops arrived the man said "I think I killed it". "It"? The man did not even see the transgender as human. That is not just that mans fault, it is societies fault. By not giving equal rights (human rights, rights that you say we are all equal to have) then you, America is not only supporting his acts, but also feeding it.
In Greeley, Colorado on July 16, 2008, Angie Zapata, 20, was fatally beaten by her date after he discovered she was transgender. Zapata's killer, Allen Andrade, told police that after he discovered Zapata had male genitalia, he hit her twice in the head with a fire extinguisher thinking he had, in his words, "killed it." Andrade was reportedly a member of a Colorado gang that is reputed to have a zero-tolerance policy on homosexuality. He was charged with first degree murder and a hate crime.59 Andrade was found guilty of these crimes on April 22, 2009. (source: http://www.civilrights.org/publications/hatecrimes/lgbt.html).
We have to stop this. Some people, cities, states, etc. claim to see us all as equal, but to fundamentally they are not. In downtown Washington in April 2010 a man was convicted of a hate crime after he threatened a group of Lesbian's with a knife. He was charged for the hate crime and a spokesman for the city was quoted saying...
"Perpetrators of hate crimes send a message to their victims - and everyone else who shares the victim's characteristics - that minorities are not welcome or safe. Every time the perpetrator of a hate crime is brought to justice, the opposite message is sent loud and clear; that all people, of any nationality, race, sexual orientation, gender, religion, or ethnicity, are welcome, safe, protected, and included in this city."
The comment was admirable and the actions were a step in the right direction, but Virginia is not one of the states that issues marriage licenses or recognizes gay marriage. LGBT are recognized as a minority, but not a minority that is given the same human rights as others...therefore, supporting the idea that LGBT are less than human and to some that justifies the hate crimes.
Its time to give all humans human rights that this country stands for, or at least claims to.
