on october 3, 2002, gwen araujo, a latina transgendered teen formerly known as eddie, was beaten and strangled to death in newark, california, after leaving a party. the murderers are attempting to get out of their sentence with a plea of "gay rage".
what would they know about gay rage? i suppose they mean the rage they feel at the existence of the gay community, or the anger and disgust they might feel at a transgendered person. but that is not the true meaning of gay rage. no, not at all. there is no way that these killers will ever understand the meaning of those words. to them it is an anger at something they do not understand and are therefore afraid of it. gay rage is so much different and more than that.
gay rage is what we as a community feel when we read the stories of our friends, family, and acquaintances being killed for what they and we are. gay rage is being told you will never be a fit parent simply because you choose to love someone more like yourself. gay rage is seeing your friends and yourself attacked just for walking down the street or the hallway at school. no, i don't think these men will ever know the true meaning behind the words they are using, but what matters is that we as a community do. and that the world begins to see this meaning as well.
...thus spake the munkies and it was good.
For current news on Gwen's murder and the trial go to glaad.org