|
Sunday, 24 February 2008 23:56
|
 Gay Community Leaders
Hold Emergency Meeting
in Fort Lauderdale
Slaying of Transgendered Youth Prompts Sunday Night Conference Call
Bouquets and floral arrangements will be placed on site at the 1000 block of Sistrunk Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale
By Norm Kent
Publisher, www.nationalgaynews.com
A loose consortium of gay community leaders spontaneously mobilized with a statewide conference call in response to the shooting of a young gay man in Fort Lauderdale on Friday evening.
17-year old Simmie Williams, Jr., was shot and killed while standing on a popular and well trafficked street corner with other transgendered persons, apparently the victim of a robbery which led to a homicide. Police are also investigating whether Williams was possibly working the streets as a prostitute at the time he was shot.
Fort Lauderdale police have announced the case is being investigated as a possible "hate crime" as a result of words that the suspects apparently published prior to the murder. As police are still investigating the shooting, they are inhibited from revealing too much information at this early juncture.
Detective Brice Brittenum, the Fort Lauderdale police liaison to the gay and lesbian community, addressed the group at the outset of the meeting, explaining that "sometimes you do not find out for sure it was a hate crime until after the suspects are debriefed. Often, you discover their motive after they are apprehended and publish a confession."
A hate crime enhances the penalty suspects' face when charged with criminal conduct. "It is an act, which if proved beyond a reasonable doubt provides for the accused to face more serious sanctions," said Detective Brittenum. Two young men who may live in the neighborhood have presently been targeted as "persons of interest."
Leaders in the gay community who spoke at the conference call included Michael Albetta, a chair for the Florida LGBT caucus. "We have to go to our legislators and let them see we have a real problem and we need to demand they support those bills which provide for sensitivity training in our schools."
"This is happening in plain sight," said Tobias Packer, "If we can have shootings in a county with safe schools projects and human rights ordinances, young gay men and women are still facing violence. These murders are not happening in a vacuum. We have to go into those communities like Okeechobee and elsewhere pushing these ordinances and ask for support."
Said Nadine Smith, the Executive Director of Equality Florida, who along with her colleague Stratton Politzer, facilitated the meeting, commented that "We cannot have a mentality that tolerates losses casually. These are our children. We need to reach the hearts and souls of parents. And if necessary, we have to meet with the Attorney General and the Governor. We have to make the end of hate crimes a state priority."
Michael Rajner, an AIDS advocate, joined the call from Philadelphia, adding that "Maybe we need to use mothers and parents of children who have been hurt to become our spokespersons so we can put a human face on this. We need messengers with moral authority."
"Killing gay people has to stop," Rajner noted, pointing out there already is a vigil planned for Lawrence King on Friday night in South Beach, and that the killing of Williams should be integrated into it. Scott Hall of the Gay Heroes Foundation offered to co ordinate memorial efforts for the slain youth at the Sistrunk Boulevard location of his shooting.
Paul Hyman, the Director of the Gay and Lesbian Community Center in Fort Lauderdale offered up the facilities of the GLCC to hold a rally or memorial. Others suggested the Sunshine Cathedral. "But there was a consensus to do something somewhere soon," Rajner added, which included pulling together more persons from within the local GLBT community.
Meanwhile, the Fort Lauderdale police representative at the meeting, Detective Brittenum, said he would be more than happy to conduct an awareness seminar at such an event
Many potential participants could not be reached on such short notice. The ones who gathered only got a late afternoon email from Ray Rideout, who coordinates a GLBT news list serve locally, popularly known as Ray's List.
However, a Town Hall meeting may be held as soon as this Thursday.
Follow www.nationalgaynews.com for more information
|
Advertisements
Home 
Staff Blogs 
