I saw this video Monday night and it moved me so much that I simply had to share it with folks, particularly the younger LGBTQ generation.
From Wikipedia:
Paul Broussard, a 27-year-old Houston-area banker and Texas A&M alumnus, died after a gay bashing incident outside a Houston nightclub in the early hours of July 4, 1991. Nine teenaged youths, ages 15–17, and one 22-year-old were intoxicated on drugs and alcohol when they left a high school party in the suburb of The Woodlands and headed for Houston's heavily gay Montrose area in an attempt to gain admittance to dance clubs located in the vicinity. After being refused entry to several establishments, they pulled into a parking lot where they encountered Broussard and two friends, who were also intoxicated.They then attacked Broussard and his friends. Broussard was beaten and stabbed twice with a pocket knife belonging to 17-year-old Jon Buice. He died several hours later as a result of both internal injuries as well as what an expert medical examiner termed "a delay in treatment" (in the early days of the AIDS crisis, police and medical personnel were slow to respond to calls from the Montrose area for fear of AIDS contamination).When Houston gay rights leader Ray Hill confronted police about solving the murder, he was told that they had no intention of doing so. Gay rights advocates, frustrated about being ignored and persecuted by city officials, marched through the streets and in front of the Mayor Kathy Whitmire's home for several days in what became Houston's largest and long-lasting gay rights demonstration in history. Ultimately, the juveniles – labeled "The Woodlands Ten" – were apprehended and plea bargained into prison without a trial for the murder of Broussard.
The video above is what happened after the murder. The outcry after Broussard's murder was so loud that police went undercover in a sting operation to stop groups of teenagers who went looking to bash gays. It sounds like a corny television comedy episode, but it's anything but that. These policemen found out the hard way what gay men go through when several of them got injured.
This video is not for everyone, and I strongly advise folks with triggers to be careful in watching it. There is no physical violence, but plenty of ugly moments which reflect a scary summation of how things were for us back in the day. Probably the most chilling portion of the video starts at 7:32 when an unnamed teenager nonchalantly compares beating gay men with the "joke" of smashing pumpkins during Halloween because he and his friends never thought of us as human beings.
Editor's note - I know how some in the community feel about the police in general, but this post isn't about them. It's about remembering our history, both good and bad.
This film is decades old but based on the opinions expressed could have been made yesterday with a few modifications, specifically the current focus on our Transgender brothers and sisters.
ReplyDeleteIt is always a good thing when humans walk in the shoes of another. Broader perspective leads to understanding which leads to compassion. It is my hope in the here/now that those who don't understand get the opportunity to broaden their horizons. Compassion and empathy seem to be in short supply. Fortunately both are learnable skills and I'm all about teaching.
Thank you Sir for your dedication to not only our shared community but to lighting the flame of knowledge in a world inhabited by humans who continue to blow out the candles.