When The Long Walk To Equality Ends...Stop Walking.
A long time peeve of mine is the concept of "reverse" racism and the like. By extension a recent attack on a lesbian couple in Oshawa has got me thinking a long the same lines. Here's the story in case you didn't know.
--story starts here---
Lesbian couple attacked outside Oshawa school
Man charged after women punched as classes let out
Nov 08, 2008 - 04:30 AM
By Stefanie Swinson
OSHAWA -- Anji Dimitriou has a black eye days after she was attacked in front her children’s school. She says her vision is still blurry and the shock is still sinking in.
Ms. Dimitriou, 30, and her lesbian partner Jane Currie, 37, said Friday they still can’t believe what happened.
“He clocked me right in the face, like right in the side of my face, and I hit my truck and I couldn’t see anything, like I blacked out,” Ms. Dimitriou said.
“I was awake but I could hear everything but I just couldn’t see anything. Then I think he clocked me again right in the top of my head.”
Classes had just let out Monday at Gordon B. Attersley elementary school on Attersley Drive, according to the couple.
Ms. Dimitriou said she was helping her son put his backpack into the car when another student’s father came toward her and began yelling.
He referred to her and Ms. Currie as men, she said, as she recounted what happened.
Ms. Currie said the man swore at her, called her a slang word for lesbian in an aggressive and derogatory way, then “out of nowhere” spit in her face and punched her.
Ms. Currie saw what was happening and rushed over.
“I had said to him, ‘you a--hole what are you doing? You just beat a woman’ (then) bang I got it” she said.
The punch split Ms. Currie’s cheek and her bloody face can be seen in a photo taken by a witness as she and Ms. Dimitriou waited for an ambulance. It took four stitches to close the wound, Ms. Currie said.
According to the couple, it was clear they were attacked because they’re lesbians.
Alacea Brown, an eyewitness whose children also attend the school, said the attack was unprovoked.
“I could not believe that someone would do this right in the middle of a whole bunch of children in school," Ms. Brown said.
She intervened along with another parent despite the shock of seeing what happened.
“There was children everywhere," said Ms. Brown, noting a pregnant bus driver nearby was terrified. They didn't know who might be attacked next, she said.
The saddest part for the couple, still recovering from their own injuries, is the lasting impact it might have on their 6-year-old son and the other children who were just a few feet away.
“Kids were screaming. Little kids. It happened right where kids go to get on the school bus. They were so afraid,” Ms. Currie said as she began to cry.
“You try and explain that to your kids,” said Ms. Currie. “They’re petrified. So scared they can’t sleep at night.”
Durham Regional Police Sgt. Paul McCurbin said Mark Scott, 43, of Oshawa faces two charges of assault causing bodily harm in connection with the incident.
Mr. Scott will make his first court appearance on December 16.
School officials said a “no trespass” order has also been issued by the school.
--article ends here--
Now from this came a great movement of speeches, facebook pages, protests, petitions and rallies in Oshawa. Now if you're me, you're asking, I hope, What are they protesting? Did some cracker police department refuse to press charges? Nope, he was clearly arrested. Did some homophobic Crown Attorney refuse to proceed? Nope, they don't care that gay people were involved. They're going to totally prosecute the man and he'll very likely go to jail. Rightfully so...but not because he assaulted a gay person, because he assaulted a person.
With respect and compassion to the victims. I am no more sad for them than I am any other victims of crime. All crimes are hate crimes. When one person takes hands upon another some part of our society has failed and that is always sad. I think that's what true acceptance is. I don't see sexual orientation in their being victims, I see people who were victimized and they should have the full resources of the justice system made available to them. Just like everyone else...no less...but also no more.
Therein lies the area no one wants to really talk about. True equality, not over compensating with over response. Society at large has literal and figurative blood on its hands as a result of our attitudes of the past. However, we sometimes think that over responding tomorrow will atone for the deeds of yesterday... and it won't. When we stop putting sexuality as the prefix on every issue involving persons in a minority orientation situation then we have acceptance, then we have true equality.
Now of course, the very obvious motive as illustrated in the accused words make it almost impossible to ignore but I have to ask. Why does it matter? Since when do we care that much about why the person did it? Generally, motive is considered to the extent of determining if the person had a reason for doing what they did not as mitigating factor in how we react. We can by all means be disappointed and angry when we see these evolutionary hold-outs but we should at the end of the day equally appalled by all attacks.
I worry that in our well intentioned desire to be hyper inclusive and opposed to so called 'hate crimes' we are creating a class system of victim. If a woman is randomly attacked tonight for "no reason" I cannot look her in the eye and tell here there are more important victims.
With that in mind I wonder how many of the protestors would be rallying in support of prostitutes who are raped and beaten or homeless people who are violated with dramatically more frequency than that of the Oshawa gay community. And to be clear,
I find all of these things repugnant. They should all be prosecuted and opposed with similar vigour. Isn’t anything else judging a victim by their sexuality? And haven’t we agreed that we’re against that?
posted by @lex @ 12:25 a.m.
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