Tuesday, July 6, 2010

GAY PASTOR AND PARTNER ATTACKED IN PARK AT GUNPOINT

From CBSAtlanta:

Six people are facing charges after a gay pastor and his partner were attacked at gunpoint while picnicking at Piedmont Park.
Joshua Noblitt, a pastor at St. Mark's Methodist United Church in Atlanta, told CBS Atlanta that he and his partner were enjoying an evening at the park last Friday just before 10 p.m. when a group of young men approached them.

"They walked up to us and asked 'are y'all gay? We ought to beat y'all for that'" said Noblitt.
Noblitt said that the youths walked off, but returned with a stick and demanded money.
....

One of the suspects pulled a handgun and held it to Noblitt's head, then stole his wallet and cell phone, police said.

I should not be shocked by this story, but I am. Violence against gays in this country is nothing new, but gratuitous assaults such as this are difficult to fathom.

They [the attackers] range in age from 13 to 19.

Teens on a lark.

H/T to Timothy Kincaid at Box Turtle Bulletin.

11 comments:

  1. And you still don't believe that some of us are just plain evolved further - that some are what human is while others are merely what human used to be?

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  2. Did you read about the gay advocate priest in Uganda who was decapitated?

    Uganda story

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  3. I'm not surprised.
    Gays have long been sitting ducks for crime. Where are they going to go, the police?

    I remember when I lived in KCMO 30 years ago, gay men in parks and on their way home from bars got mugged constantly.

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  4. Here it's usually at the beginning and end of school year.

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  5. It would seem that the story from Uganda is a hoax.

    Meanwhile what is upsetting about the Atlanta story is the age of the perps. They didn't get that hatred out of the blue; they were taught it. Shame on those who told them it is OK to beat up others... especially those perceived to be gay (whether they are or are not, if these kids thought two men or women together are LGBT and act in a violent manner it is wrong).

    Heat affecting my thoughts...

    wv: cryarize, a new verb form of to cry.

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  6. Mark, humans were ever as we are today. A cursory glance backward makes it plain.

    Ellie, for some reason, I did not jump on the Uganda story, because it was too gruesome, and perhaps it was for the best if, as Caminante says, it's not true.

    Counterlight, I wondered if perhaps one or more of the teens were themselves gay and participated, out of fear, to show off their manliness. Perhaps they'll all run for Congress or governor when they grow up.

    Caminante, my thought, too. The youths were taught hateful prejudices.

    The weather is crazy. I can't believe that the temperatures in the Northeast are higher than the temps here.

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  7. Well, ya know, straight boys will be idiots.

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  8. This reads to me like a bunch of teens who went to the park not to attack gay people there per se but more half-thinking they might try to see if there was anyone they could threaten so they could grab some money, or whatever they could get. Then when they saw the gay couple they decided to make it them. They were involved in an armed robbery a few minutes earlier, apparently. And the pastor said they didn't seem too organised.

    I'm not saying that's any less homophobic though.

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  9. Er - Padre, I thought you was a straight boy.

    Cathy, I don't know what was in the boys' heads. Perhaps they were out to make mischief of some sort, and just happened upon the gay couple, but their words betray them as homophobic.

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  10. They were we're not.

    You wouldn't allow chimpanzees the right to vote and run around with weapons among humans.

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  11. You wouldn't allow chimpanzees the right to vote and run around with weapons among humans.

    Er, while we're on the subject of the gun lobby ...

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