Southern by the Grace of God

In Bay Minette, Alabama--about 20 miles from Mobile, Alabama, the city I grew up in--Scotty Joe Weaver, an 18yo gay teenager gets beaten, strangled, stabbled, and decapitated by three guys, two of which were his roommates. This ((of course)) is not the first time a hate crime has been committed against a Queer individual in Alabama [Billy Jack Gaither].

Nevertheless, the enlightened state of Alabama refuses to amend its hate crime law to include sexual orientation. In fact, in 2002 an Alabama Supreme Court Justice commented that being gay is, among other things, "abhorrent, immoral, detestable, a crime against nature, and a violation of the laws of nature," a "lifestyle" that "should never be tolerated," "an intolerable evil," "an inherent evil," and "an act so heinous that it defies one's ability to describe it."

Alabama's ignorance doesn't stop there. Currently, Gerald Allen, an Alabama State representative, wants to ban all books the present homosexuality in anything but a negative light or by gay authors from the Alabama public libraries.

Not only do some US states refuse to protect the rights of GLBTQ individuals, but they may efforts to make laws that steal privileges from them. My heart aches.

-kway

The full Scotty Joe Weaver story.