Terrorist Attacks in Red States

Well it may not seem like terrorists to you, but to the gay couple that had their trailer torched in Orlando, Florida, yesterday, it was a terrorist attack. Fortunately, Paul Day and Christopher Robertson were out shopping when the attack occurred. They returned home to find the words, "Die Fag" painted on their porch steps and their trailer burned. Neighbors, of course, saw nor heard anything.

Hate crimes involving gays in Florida are on the rise. In fact, 20% of all hate crimes committed in the state are against gays and lesbians, though officially Florida has no hate crime laws marking gays as victims. According to police reports, this summer has seen a number of arson attacks against gays in Polk County.

But it isn't just Florida. Last week it was the Heart Rock Club in Brownsville, Texas that was torched. Had the gay club not have been closed, no one would have made it out alive, according to police who listed the attack as a hate crime.

The week before, the only gay club in Fayetteville, Arkansas, was destroyed by arson. It was the second fire set inside the club in four weeks.

In Middlebrook, Virginia, St. John's Reformed UCC church, supportive of gays, was set ablaze and badly damaged. Anti-gay graffiti was painted on the outside of the building.

While you may not feel these are terrorist attacks, I would remind you that there is little difference between these attacks and those happening at the hands of religious fanatics around the world. I think terror would be an adequate description of what you'd feel if your home was destroyed by fire and slurs written on your porch steps. This sort of occurrence is happening on a regular basis right here in America almost weekly.

It's time that American citizens realize what the dehumanizing of gay and lesbian people means.

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