NEWARK, Calif. (AP) - The killing of a 17-year-old boy who dressed as a girl was being investigated Friday as a possible hate crime by police who say they were led to his shallow grave by one of four young men arrested on suspicion of murder. Police believe the boy was killed after getting into a fight with several people at an Oct. 3 party in this San Francisco Bay Area suburb. The boy was reported missing by his mother when he didn’t come home from the party. The teen had chosen to dress like a girl “for some time,” according to police Lt. Tom Milner. Pastor Ed Moore, who knows Araujo’s family, told KRON-TV that the young man had been ostracized. “People did not really want to accept him, he didn’t get a job because of who he was and things like that,” Moore said Friday. “And so there was a struggle going on even within the family, his personal struggle but also how he was viewed by society.”
This is very sad. And in the Bay Area, no less! Isn’t that supposed to be like the most open-minded place in the world or something?
Ugh, that’s really sad. 
I don’t mean to be petty, but I really hope they don’t make a movie about it. The crime itself is disturbing enough, and “Boys Don’t Cry” is one of the most horrible movies I’ve ever seen. (Not “horrible” in quality, but horrible in the “I can’t believe this actually happened and some movie exec decided it made a good script” kind of way.)
I’m going to shut up now and go away.
despair
So, so sad. Why are some people so full of fucking hate?
God, why the hell can’t people behave decently? It has to be hard enough dealing with being transgendered without having to fear being murdered by some yahoos.
Silver Fire, I agree with you. I couldn’t finish watching Boys Don’t Cry because I knew what was going to happen.
Very sad. I don’t get it. Where’s the threat?
I’m so sorry to hear about this. I’m also shocked that it happened outside of SFO.
You make it sound as if BDC was a “Hollywood” movie put together by a bunch of soulless suits. BDC was an indie film all the way, made by people who cared deeply about the subject matter and toiled, with very little sleep and resources, to be as true to Brandon Teena as possible. (There were liberties taken in the script, but for the most part, it’s accurate). IMDB lists 3 production companies (Hart-Sharp Entertainment [us], Independent Film Channel [us], and Killer Films [us]) and a budget of $2 million, peanuts in Hollywood. No, this was NOT a Hollywood film.
The fact that Hilary Swank got enough attention and respect to end up winning the Best Actress Oscar over Hollywood sweetheart Annette Bening was a miracle, and due to some incredible word of mouth, starting with critics’ raves, and commitment from the distribution companies and film festivals that the film should be seen and not forgotten.
Boys Don’t Cry brought widespread attention to Brandon Teena and what happened to him. How can that be a bad thing? Is it better to sweep it under the rug and keep it hidden from all but a few in-the-know people?
Anything (movies, tv shows, documentarys, books, articles, etc.) that brings attention to the hatred and bigotry in the world, and treats the victims of such as human beings, is a good thing, because if it can change one person’s heart, it will have been worth it.
Also, I really hope that the poor sweetheart identified as a boy, which would save the newspaper from being complete insensitive jackasses for doing so.
Matt, most reporters tend to go on phenotypic gender, not on interior-identity gender, in stories like this, so that stories like,
“Fred W. Schmidt, a 42-year-old man who prefers to be known as ‘Francine Schmidt’…” are not so much the product of jackasses as of people who don’t get the concept of interior identity as separate from what the body may suggest.
It’s made clear in the story that he was phenotypically male but identified as a girl:
The pastor sounds like he may have been quite sensitive to the victim’s feelings.
Say that again?
nevermind
NOTE-The following post is an expression of the disgust and hatred I sometimes feel toward the human race. The words do not reflect my actual opinion on the matter. The bile beneath them does.
What the hell kind of world do you think we’re living in? Do you actually think you have theright to be different? Are you stupid enough to think that you can be who you are and not be punished? You have the right to be normal. You have the right to conform. Abnormality is a crime. A boy wears woman’s clothing. Four other boys kill him and bury the body. It’s clear to me who was in the wrong here. I can’t understand how some lunatics could fight for laws giving gays equal rights! What kind of sick mind would want a world where Esprix and his boyfriend could actually show affection in public? Next you’ll be telling me that gays should be able to adopt.
I’m gonna go attempt to restore my faith in humanity now
It’s not been a good month for transexuals. First the Federal Court in Louisiana rules that Winn-Dixie can fire a man for cross-dressing in his free time, away from work. Then last week the the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal of Gardiner v. Gardiner. Now this.
God, not even in death can they get the poor girl’s name right. Well, another entry for my we will remember list. holds head in hands
This is disgusting. I hope the four young men in question have painful, heart-wrenching despair eat at them for the rest of their lives.
How do people do this? I don’t understand how any human being can make the leap from ‘I think what you’re doing is wrong’ to ‘therefore I’m going to kill you.’ How can I be in the same species as these monsters?
My heart goes out to this poor girl and her family.
And to the newspaper reporters- come on, people, it isn’t that hard. Transsexuals are not exactly new, and if she identified as a girl, does it really kill you to call her ‘she?’ You’re a professional with the language, I’m sure you can work out how to do this and still get the relevant information to the readers.
I’ve added Gwen Araujo to my list of people who we’ve lost to prejudice based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
http://www.metrodemontreal.com/matt/gay/victims.html
It broke my heart, but I had to spin it off. It was on my regular gay page, but it was just getting too long.
:mad:
Unfortunately, they probably won’t. Their narrow-minded attitude will not allow them to accept that what they did was wrong. They probably see their actions as some sort of twisted “justice” (as put forth in DocCathode’s post). If criminal charges are brought against them some fast-talking defender will probably try to get them off with some sort of bullshit tap-dance which equates their bigotry with “diminished capacity” or “youthful indiscretion” and their parents will lament that their lives shouldn’t be ruined by one little “lapse of judgement” :rolleyes: .
Yet another reason why all transgendered persons need to be aware, vigilant, armed, and ready to defend their own lives with deadly force. Never to relax until men stop doing evil to those who do no evil to them.
Guilty of the capital crime of being different - or, perhaps, of being a “threat to their very masculinity”. Dead and in a ditch.
If Eve’s goal was to make me murderously angry today, she can count herself a happy woman.
Una