Many people have heard the story about Matthew Shepard and how he was brutally killed in Laramie, Wyo.
Not too many people know the story of April Mora from Denver. Just last week, April was walking in the alley behind her home and a car passed. The car, with three men in it, stopped alongside her and the males yelled "dyke."
Two of the three men jumped out of the car. One pinned her down with his knees while the other assailant held a knife to her throat. One of them held her down, pulled out a razor, and started carving into her left forearm. The men carved the word "dyke" in block letters, an inch in height. They then wrote the letters "RIP" into her stomach and slashed her face with the razor.
Mora said the man in the car yelled for the other two to stop. The two males stopped cutting her, but they began kicking her before leaving the scene. She managed to walk home and was taken to the hospital in an ambulance and was released shortly afterward.
Those stories came from Wyoming and Colorado. That form of violent hate never happens in Indiana, let alone Ball State, right? Wrong. According to Daily News articles, in October of 1994, three men attacked a Ball State student. Two men held down the student, who was a member of the GLBT organization on campus, while the third attempted to write the word "fag" in his chest with a coat hanger.
Then, in the following year, during Coming Out Week, another Ball State student was attacked. He was approached by two men carrying a baseball bat. As they approached him, the men said things like, "All you fags need your asses kicked. You're a queer. All you fags should die." As the two men attempted to attack, he successfully defended himself with his five years of martial arts experience.
The following night, the two original attackers returned with three others. This time, the victim was not as successful. The five people hit him in the ribs and knees with a baseball bat. He sustained major cuts and bruises but escaped with no broken bones.
These three attacks have something in common. They all involve a lack of respect for people who are different.
Lack of respect places these hateful thoughts and actions in the same category of ignorance with the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups.
With this being a college campus, one would think that you, as a member of the Ball State community, are among the highly educated. Sadly, ignorance lurks everywhere. It even shows its face in areas where we assume immaturity is ridden.
When you see stories in the news like the Matthew Shepard story and say, "I'm glad I am not there," think again. You are there.
Write to Kevin and Mat at twobsuguys@yahoo.com
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