Its a cruel world

[lyconthrope]

Today I am sad

I always try not to watch the news as I tend to get more overly emotional than I should, but was flicking through some online news articles when my eye was caught by a short report that made me feel sadder & more helpless than I have felt in a long time, it also made me worry about the future of society and deeply wish that I was not part of a generation that could do this to a fellow human being:

February 26th, 2007
The Human Rights Campaign today mourns the death of 72-year-old Detroit resident Andrew Anthos who was attacked last week outside of his apartment and subsequently died of his injuries. The Human Rights Campaign is partnering with The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force to pay for the funeral expenses for Mr. Anthos.

We are deeply saddened that Mr. Anthos, a member of our community, has died. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his friends and family,

said HRC President Joe Solmonese.

This brutal crime is senseless, infuriating and deeply saddening - no one deserves to die this way.

The attack occurred last week on February 13, when Mr. Anthos was riding on a city bus and was asked by a fellow passenger if he was gay. The man then followed Mr. Anthos off the bus which stopped in front of Mr. Anthos’ building where the assailant then beat him with a metal pipe.

It is clear that Mr. Anthos was attacked simply for being gay and we urge the local law enforcement to pursue this case vigorously and bring justice to this heinous crime. This attack and subsequent murder cannot go unpunished,

added Solmonese.

The Human Rights Campaign is ready to stand shoulder to shoulder with Michigan Equality and Triangle Foundation as this case moves forward and justice is served.

It will never cease to amaze and sadden me to see just how truely malicious, violent and hateful people can be towards one another, for no reason other than the fear of something differant.

There was only one piece of good news that I came across while reading that created a subtle ray of light:

February 21st, 2007
Lambda Legal lauded the Feb 20 United States Supreme Court refusal to hear a case brought by an Illinois antigay group that attempted to put a statewide advisory referendum opposing marriage and relationship rights for same-sex couples on the November ballot but lacked an adequate number of signatures.

We are pleased that the United States Supreme Court rejected a desperate attempt to undermine the will of the people and push ahead a radical measure that the people of Illinois clearly did not want on their ballot,

said James P. Madigan, Staff Attorney in Lambda Legal’s Midwest Regional Office in Chicago, who worked on the Illinois Board of Elections and federal court proceedings in this case.

The Court has respected Illinois’ right to apply the same referendum rules to everyone, and has stopped Protect Marriage Illinois from trampling the rights of Illinois voters.

Under Illinois law, Protect Marriage Illinois (PMI), the antigay Illinois group seeking the referendum, needed the support of 283,111 registered voters to place its proposed antigay referendum on the November 2006 ballot in Illinois. Lambda Legal represented the registered opponent of the referendum, Fair Illinois, a coalition of fair-minded Illinoisans that came together to oppose the referendum, and five individual objectors.

In papers filed with the Board of Elections, Fair Illinois demonstrated that the petitions submitted by PMI were riddled with tens of thousands of invalid signatures. A random sampling by the Board of Elections also found insufficient support presented by PMI. PMI was unable to counter these findings. After being denied a place on the ballot by the Illinois State Board of Elections, the group brought the case to the US Supreme Court arguing that the Illinois requirements were unconstitutional under federal law, leading to today’s denial to hear the case by the US Supreme Court.

In addition to Madigan, Fair Illinois and the objectors were represented by Lambda Legal’s Director of Constitutional Litigation, Patricia M. Logue, and cooperating attorneys from Jenner & Block LLP (Jeffrey D. Colman, John R. Storino, Adam H. Morse and Erin M. O’Connell) as well as cocounsel Michael J. Kasper of Fletcher Topol O’Brien & Kasper PC and attorney Michael Kreloff.


-Lambda Legal

Although even this was not enough to lift my mood out of the sad little hole of despair at the human condition that I seem to have found myself in

I don't mean to sound like a huge drama queen, it has actually taken me almost an hour to write this as I am at a loss for words to describe how much news of such hateful acts upset me.

"Here endeth the despair"