Since we had to go house hunting Friday afternoon, I decided to put together a summary of some trans news items for Friday evening's column. But while I was doing so, one of my favorite movies came on, namely Carl Sagan's Contact.
The news, of course, is what it is. The movie put a different spin on the whole thing, so maybe this will come out as not only commentary on those items but also a statement about the state of the universe.
Just maybe a few readers out there will get the point of what I am trying to say. There is always hope for that.
You may have heard about it by now. Or maybe not. There haven't exactly been that many news stories about it.
On Wednesday, April 22, Allen Andrade was convicted of the bias crime murder of Angie Zapata, which occurred in July of last year, as well as the theft of a car and a credit card. He received the mandatory sentence of life without parole.
I wrote about the trial last week, while it was still going on. You can read that here if you are so inclined.
I wish I could say I felt some degree of satisfaction about this. But I don't. Surrounding the trial has been so much lack of communication and absence of understanding that I feel like going into my room and never emerging again.
Non-transsexual people are, in some cases, trying to be helpful with what they are trying to share. Most often what I have read has fallen short of that mark.
My first impulse was to write about the fact that today was the National Day of Silence, which was first observed at the University of Virginia in 1996 and has been sponsored by GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Educational Network) since 2000. If you feel like helping them out, I am sure everyone would be thankful.
But something else has been happening this week as well, out in Colorado. And this thing, a trial in the murder of a young transwoman, demands words, not silence. It has my focus, my attention.
The FBI told us that American Indians are still the most assaulted in hate crimes, and I had thought there that "some or many will not admit that violence against Native Americans is made more probable because of the institutionalized racism that is American Indian sports teams mascots, even if it is true - and it probably is."
Well, it is. Death threats against a 15 year old have spawned, because a coward published a 15 year old American Indian's name in a newspaper.
A local businessman placed a quarter-page ad in the local newspaper explicitly naming and targeting Eli Cordero, the young student who originally brought the issue to the school board.
We, the undersigned, call upon the Connecticut State Governor Jodi Rell to investigate and order an immediate halt to the hate crimes, destruction, desecration of sacred lands and encroachment that started after Federal Recognition and allowed to occur on the Schaghticoke Reservation in Kent, CT from 2004, to date.
At the Justice Department, recent scandals have dragged public confidence to an all time low. A special prosecutor is now digging into charges that former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales put political partisanship ahead of the law.
Jodi Rave investigates crimes against Native American women
Would institutionalized racism against American Indians have aided the approximately 68 Caucasian individuals to commit hate crimes against American Indians?
TULSA, Okla. - Crimes of hate against American Indians totaled 75 incidents in the nation during 2007, said a Federal Bureau of Investigation report. While the overall number of crimes against Indians mirrored 2006's 75 incidents, the overall number of hate crimes dipped, according to the report. The federal law enforcement agency culled data from over 13,000 agencies across the nation.
Esoteric spiritual madness has accompanied me as I have watched the continuing web of land theft spreading, still, from the Arctic to across the United States.
On January 22, 2008, Australian actor Heath Ledger died. On that very same day, the fanatical Westboro Baptist Church posted a news release chock-full of their hate-filled vitriol that announced their intention to picket the funeral.
The cult-like hate group, which claims that it is their love for all that inspires their actions (to save the souls of homosexuals), appears to have enormous resources. They often fly on short notice to picket funerals of homosexuals, trangendered people and -- most recently -- they have even added soldiers to their list of targets. They claim that events like 9/11, Hurrican Katrina and all the major catastrophes and wars impacting the US today are God's punishment to the nation.1
March on Washington
Since we had to go house hunting Friday afternoon, I decided to put together a summary of some trans news items for Friday evening's column. But while I was doing so, one of my favorite movies came on, namely Carl Sagan's Contact.
