Will it ever stop? Gay kid beaten up all night so he will turn straight

[dsc]

http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/04/041307nmsentence.htm

Santa Fe, New Mexico) Two of four people charged in the July 2006 kidnapping an beating of an 18 year old gay man have been handed still sentences.

Uriah Smith, 18, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping in the attack on the 18-year old victim and a female friend.

The names of the two victims cannot be published for their own security.

They had gone to a party at a local home but when they tried to leave the four became verbally abusive. When they managed to get outside the group jumped them.

They were held and the gay man was beaten by the suspects who said that they were going to beat him straight. The beatings continued throughout the night and into the next morning.

The victim suffered bleeding on the brain and a concussion as well as facial lacerations and bruising.

end of quote

Two of the people involved in this have been sentenced, one to four years. The victims have had their identities keep private for their safety. Story after story of this stuff just ads up. Will this ever stop? Beating him to turn him straight? Will this shit ever stop? 4 years? People get that for a couple of crack rocks.

[terrya]

1. 4 years for beating a kid because of hate.

4 years. That's a fucking insult. Hell, they might as well just released those assholes. Those bigots should have gotten at least 30 years for that hate crime. At least. Without any chance of parole.

It's ok, apparently, to beat, to kill GLBT people in the United States. That's what I get from shit like this.

[YOY]

20. And a lifetime marked as felons

Although 4 years is not enough IMHO, at least they suffer that indignity.

I'm not a fan of the marked for life stuff. I've seen cases where the mark has consigned them to a lifetime of lower paying jobs and little trust. In this case I think it's nicely warranted.

[we can do it]

24. They Deserve To Be Scarred for Life, Like Their Victim

4 years is not a detterent to this shit -

[Gman]

41. Not just felons...

violent felons. Martha Stewart is a felon too. Big difference

[YOY]

44. Martha really doesn't need to work for a living as well

They most likely do. Their options will be limited.

[BOSSHOG]

Brave conservatives - 4 on one

And no doubt those brave conservatives can't get it up unless there's violence involved. They'll enjoy prison.

[dsc]

4. It was actually 4 on 2

they beat up the young woman too.

[BamaLefty]

2. And why...?

Are gay people not included under hate crime laws? I just don't get it.

Sad. This is America we're talking about, too.

[dsc]

6. They are now in New Mexico

thanks in large part to Bill Richardson.

[BamaLefty]

9. That's good to hear

Although I'm not gay, it's sickening to know that so many people essentially "walk" after taking out their hatred on other human beings. 3 years in jail is certainly "walking."

The Alabama Legislature will be discussing this issue this week, by the way.

[dsc]

10. No way

If they pass a hate crimes law in AL protecting gays I might die of the shock.

[BamaLefty]

37. The AL legislature

is solidly Democratic. Moderate, but Democratic.

We shall see.

[Duncan Grant]

3. This needs a k&r, pronto.

Gee, I hope the anti-thought crimes police show up. :sarcasm:

[terrya]

7. Thanks...I forgot to recommend it.

I did so just now.

[Duncan Grant]

13. Thanks for the recommend! (check out GLBT)

:hi:

[terrya]

16. Just did, 94114_San_Francisco!

I sure did...voted in your poll and added a comment. Good post. :thumbsup:

:hi:

[Pro2nd]

26. I'll bite

I don't think any class of people should receive special protection from the law that are not afforded to all others, be it racial or religious minorities, or gays. That having been said, those clowns should be doing 20 years each for such a beating. Not because the victim was gay, but because he was a human being.

[Duncan Grant]

27. HiYa, Pro2nd.

I don't want to threadjack dsc's thread but maybe my thread over in the GLBT forum would be a good place to discuss this. (I've posted a poll asking if this event was a hate crime.)

It won't come as a surprise to you that I believe crimes like this one are motivated by hate, bigotry, or cultural biases, etc. Crimes motivated by the victim's sexual orientation are different than a random assault and as such, deserve more scrutiny (imho).

You and I are probably familiar with both sides of this argument. Maybe we could start a new thread or move over to GLBT? :hi:

[marmar]

29. I don't buy the "special protection" argument....

The simple fact is, if he wasn't gay, this particular crime wouldn't have happened. A hate crime deserves a unique category because it's a unique crime. A person who is beaten up specifically because he or she is gay, black, Jewish, Muslim, Latino etc etc would not have been beaten up otherwise.

[Book Lover]

50. Would you then upport restructuring laws so that people who shoot cops

get no extra time?

[tbyg52]

52. If the specific motivation didn't matter,

then there wouldn't be a distinction between murder one and manslaughter, either.

[frebrd]

5. No, stupidity will never stop...

not in this country, certainly!

[rasputin1952]

8. First, I'm glad this young man didn't get killed...

But I figure that those involved in the beating deserve stiffer sentences. Kidnapping and beating the man, for hours on end, is repulsive to the extreme. The sadistical "people" have commited a grievous crime, tis was not a fight, but a beating of an unarmed individual.

:grr: Things like this have to stop, regardless of the "reason" behind such things. Our society is guilty of allowing such things to happen, and we must correct this behavior...and damn soon.

[mnhtnbb]

11. Sounds like a plea bargain.

[ThomCat]

12. Why the hell didn't this constitute attempted murder?

You don't beat someone that badly, for that long, without knowing that you might kill the person. x(

4 years is a slap on the wrist. Nobody is going to convince me that there wasn't some homophobia behind the leniency of that supposedly stiff sentence.

[Selatius]

14. Why is homosexuality so wrong?

The only thing I can come up with is because anti-homosexual attitudes have been amplified and even encouraged by certain religions.

[HockeyMom]

18. You don't hear them coming out, pardon the pun,

and CONDEMNING this violence, do you? They work every angle they can to defeat hate legislation. What ever happened to "hate the sin, love the sinner" that they preach? If you love the "sinner", you certainly don't attack and nearly kill them.

[Cabcere]

21. Maybe they're afraid that if they "love the sinner,"

they might "catch the sin?" :eyes: Seriously, I don't understand it either. What happened to "love thy neighbor?" :shrug: I don't go to church much anymore, but I was raised Christian, and the Golden Rule was drilled into my head ever since I was old enough to even remotely understand what it meant. I suppose these jerks think that Jesus beat prostitutes celibate and kicked the disease out of lepers or something. :grr:

[and-justice-for-all]

34. Its not wrong...

An the infidels that conduct those bashings are more likely then not, been subjected to some form of religious doctrination that has told them what is wrong according to it writings.

Or, they have homosexual desiers and due to the company they keep can not exercise that freedom and therefore violence towards the thing they can not have replaces sexual satisfaction. Sexual supression is unhealty and can result in violence towards others or themselves...

The other maybe that they individual has been malested by someone close to them and instead of talking to someone about it to help them get through it, they lash out and keep those scarred emotions as baggage.

Homosexuality shouldnt be a issue and it only is because of religious rhetoric thats is spewed off the fork tongues of its Shaman.

[AspenRose]

15. This is sickening. And yes, it has to stop NOW.

eom

[Initech]

17. Damn, stories like this piss me off to no end.

And will it ever stop? Hell no!

[Maraya1969]

19. I wonder how gay bashers are treated in prison?

[The Count]

22. Hatred & stupidity will go on, but maybe we could punish the crimes so in the

future, they'll think twice before taking stupid actions!

[rodeodance]

23. it might stop when Hate filled people stop telling people YOU CAN be

CURED (Dobson and this ink)

[Chulanowa]

25. Just four years?

For kidnapping? For aggravated battery? False imprisonment? Committed against TWO people, no less?

dsc is right - I would get twice that for selling a pound of smoke. What the hell?

[marmar]

28. Identities private and 4 years? Did they make them write "I will not beat up gay people" 100x?

Sarcasm aside, it's a pathetic sentence for a pathetic crime served up by a pathetic system that tolerates and enables this homophobic violence. Once again, equal protection under the law doesn't apply to everybody.

[Duncan Grant]

30. Back to the front page with this thread. (nt)

[Warren DeMontague]

31. They wanted to give Ed Rosenthal 20 Years for growing pot for cancer patients.

Obviously, a far more dangerous man.

[and-justice-for-all]

32. Would it help....

..If a Clan of gay people got together and beat the FUNDAMENTALIST NAZI out of someone?

I find that to be perfect punishment to go along with their 2 to 4 years sentence, get some Gay men together and let them beat the fuck out those goons.

[dsc]

33. I know you mean that ironicly

but for a time in my life I would have actually considered it.

[SalmonChantedEvening]

35. Sickening. All of it.

Travesty heaped upon Tragedy brought about by small minded hatred.

[Danger Mouse]

36. People get MORE than that for a couple of crack rocks.

And I'm sure they're 'good Christians' too. :puke:

[dsc]

42. I suspected that was true

but didn't look it up and didn't want to be accused of making shit up.

[flying_monkeys]

38. Mark his name.

If he is already considered to have psychopathic tendancies at age 18 and insists HE wants to be sentenced as an adult, then in 4 years he will come out even worse than he is now - - and we will see his name in the headlines for something even worse committed against gays within a few years.


That dude has an ugly future ahead of him.

[fizzgig]

39. this is an unaccaptable plea bargain

prosecutors say that plea bargaining is a necessity because the courts are so overloaded, but whose fault is it that the courts are overloaded? these assholes get a walk and some kid gets twice as long for having some pot and *maybe* selling a bit to his friends.

the "war" on drugs has done unbelievable harm to our legal and prison systems, not to mention the devastation it has on families. i'm not saying that there are not drug dealers who don't deserve to be in prison, but i don't think prison time is appropriate for many of them. don't even get me started on mandatory sentencing.

but to get back on point...this plea bargain is sickening, it does nothing to serve justice

[tyedyeto]

40. As to your question in the title....

As along as there are homophobes, the beatings/deaths won't stop.

Why? I have no idea.

So what if someone (no matter what age) is gay!! For some reason, these idiots feel threatened. If they feel so insecure about their wife, g/f or s/o, why take it out on someone who is attracted to their own sex? Makes no sense to me.

[progressoid]

43. 4 years????

That's sickening.

[file83]

45. Ignorance + Emotional dysfunction + Sexual Identity issues = This Stupid Crime.

These kids that beat this gay kid have more issues NOW than that gay kid would have ever had in his lifetime. Someone who resorts to violence over SEXUALITY has so many issues, it's hard to know where to start.

Throw in some alcohol, and the possibilities of human darkness are limitless.

[Prophet 451]

46. It will stop

Eventually, it will stop. I wish I could tell you that the crazies will die out tommorrow but they won't, they're going to be around for a while. And one to four won't change their opinions. If anything, it'll make them worse because they'll view themselves as martyrs.

But it will stop, in time. Much of the "civilised" world is now moving toward acceptance of gay people and eventually, the US will too. The UK now has same-sex marriage in all but name (and I imagine the name will come in time), so does much of western Europe. In the UK, the first gay marriage actually took place a week before the law came into effect because the Home Office waived the waiting period since one partner was in the final stages of terminal cancer (they routinely do this for straight couples in the same position). The US (American exceptionalism aside) can't stand against the tide forever. As time goes on and a new generation comes of age, a generation that's known and seen gay people all their lives, homophobia will die out. The dinosaurs will eventually die off. On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everything drops to zero. This too, shall pass.

I appreciate that's little comfort right now.

[Raster]

47. I'm tired of waiting for the dinosaurs to die off. I say it's time to kill them off.

I urge all gays at risk to learn self-defense. Take classes. Buy guns. Learn how to use them. Get concealed carry permits. The next time someone decides to "beat you straight," blow their hetero-degenerate ass to kingdom-come. As soon as enough Billy Bobs and Bubbas catch it between the eyes--maybe, just maybe--we'll see some attention to the problem.

And before the teeming masses crawl all over my ass, just consider: picture open season on you just because of your in-born, innate sexuality. Then you try to tell me to get over it.

[Prophet 451]

48. Be careful

I'd encourage anyone who falls into a victimised group to take self-defence training. I actually taught self-defence to college girls for a while (my version of "rape prevention", teaching girls vicious back-alley brawling so they can beat the snot out of rapists). If you're in an area which allows handgun possession and concealed carry, they're both good ideas (if you can be sure you'd use your weapon if/when the time comes. If you can't bring yourself to pull the trigger, you're more a danger to yourself than them) but remember proportionality of response. You don't get to throw down on some random guy in a bar just because he's being a jerk. Part of learning any combat discipline is learning to use it responsibly and the rule is simple: Talk them down if you can, put them down if you have to.

[Raster]

49. I completely agree. I am an openly gay man and have been since high school.

I DIDN'T get the shit beat out of me because I was more than willing to beat right back. I grew up in a small town in Arizona. The town, the people and even my family are as redneck as the day is long. I may have had the Bubbas yell a threat or an obscenity as they drove past, squealing' the wheels on their primer gray camaros, but no one ever stopped to take me on. I'm 6', and then was about 200 lbs. My motto has always been avoid the confrontation as much as possible, but when unavoidable, kick some ass! I'm not advocating looking for trouble. But I am saying when trouble goes out of its way to find you, knock the fucking snot out of it. Maybe it will learn a lesson.

[Prophet 451]

53. Sounds good to me

Somewhere out there are a bunch of would-be rapists nursing broken jaws, cracked ribs and dislocated kneecaps because they tried to push one of my girls further than she wanted to go. It's not very civilised to admit it but that thought keeps me warm at nights. If gay/bi kids want to learn, I'll be more than happy to teach them. If no-one will give us space to train (as the college wouldn't for years) then I'll teach people in my basement. No charge, just pitch in a few pence for the coffee and water. Hell, I'll encourage quiet, bookish kids to come along too (because they're often picked on and like most people who teach/taught self-defence, I have a thing about bullies).

Hopefully, the stuff I taught never gets used because violence isn't a good thing. Outside of sports, it's never a good thing but the world is as it is and my philosophy has always been that if we want a better world, we'll need to fight for it. Gay people have tried to win their rights by lawsuits and public pressure and that's admirable, that's civilised but there's part of us that only sees something as a right when it's torn from the fist of the oppressor and part of me can't help wandering if we'd have had more progress with a few riots and a bunch of homophobes getting the tar kicked out of them. I learned that teaching girls that they didn't have to be Anne of Green Gables, they could be Buffy if they wanted really does have an effect. I can't help wondering if teaching gay kids that they can be Chris Kanyon (monumentally tough wrestler) would have achieved the same effect.

I'm 6'1" and, at fight weight, about 260lb. I'm also, if it matters, bisexual. My current (and hopefully, last) partner is a woman but there have been men in there too. Some long-term, some short-term, a shaming number just for the night but I was never scared to go out at night or walk down a dark alley. None of my girls are scared either and if it means they don't have to be scared, I'll teach gay guys, bi guys,bi girls, lesbians, transexual/transgendered (which is the correct term?) people, bookish kids, fat kids. No-one should be scared to walk the streets.

[Rex]

51. Here is what frightens me the most.

NOT the reaction of the posse. We see and read about that daily on this site and in other news sources. What really scares me is that these young boys really BELIEVED they were doing the right thing in beating upon another human all night, into the morning hours. What makes a person believe they are right to torture another human for their beliefs? How easily does that mindset play into other evil hands?

The victim suffered brain trauma, for their beliefs. If this doesn't sicken people, then I don't know what will. :(