On Friday October 15th 2010 at 6pm the red stairs in Times Square New York City above the TKTS sales window became a platform for hope. The group Queer Rising invited people to arrive the popular tourist location and encouraged them to bring signs as well a printed image of an LGBT victim of hate violence or bullycide. Queer Rising reminded those invited we are NOT threatening, we are NOT scary, we are NOT shameful, HATE speech is a DIRECT CAUSE of suicide / violence within our community. New York City is the birthplace of the current LGBT ( Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender ) movement, which went into full swing in June of 1969 at the Stonewall Riots on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village. Ten days prior to the demonstration in Times Square Benjamin Carver 39 years old from Washington D.C. was brutally beaten by Matthew Francis, 21, and 17-year-old Christopher Orlando in a gay bashing that took place inside the bathroom of the Stonewall Bar. The violence in the month of October was not limited to the attack at the Stonewall Bar on Sunday October 3rd thru the 4th 2010 in the Bronx section of NY 11 people were charged in the violent gang beating and torture of two teens and a man 30 years old, The the victims were burned, beaten, tortured and sodomized with a baseball bat. The hate continues on October 1st 2010 in Chelsea, on the corner of 25th Street and Ninth Avenue, as three men were hugging and kissing goodbye on the corner, five or six men yelled slurs and attacked them with fists and a metal garbage can. The anniversary date of the National Equality March in Washington D.C. of October 11th was also a day for more anti-gay violence in NYC this time at Julius Bar Frederick Giunta, 25, was arrested and charged with assaulting two men in a row in New York City's West Village. After robbing and hitting one, Giunta allegedly beat up a bartender at Julius, saying to him, "What are you going to do, you f**king ni***r. You are a f**king fa**ot.". The rising anti-gay violence was not the only reason New Yorkers gathered in Times Square, fall of 2010 saw an alarming increase of teen suicide due to anti-gay bullying become an epidemic in the USA a country that has yet to repeal it's "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy or provide full marriage equality for all of it's citizens.
Teens / Youth who committed suicide in the fall of 2010 majority are confirmed ant-gay bullying
Asher Brown 13 years old from Texas shot himself in the head after being bullied to death September 23rd 2010
Seth Walsh 13 years old from California who hung himself to death September 28th 2010
Caleb Nolt 14 years old Indiana (straight, but stereotyped as being gay) September 30, 2010
Brandon Bitner 14 years old Pennsylvania threw himself in front of an oncoming tractor-trailer after leaving a suicide note at his home November 5th 2010
Justin Aaberg 15 years old cello player from Minnesota hung himself to death July 9th 2010
Harrison Chase Brown 15 years old from Colorado (died suddenly in his home.” ... There is no public evidence to suggest he died by suicide because of anti-gay bullying) September, 25 2010.
Billy (William) Lucas 15 years old Indiana hung himself to death September 9th 2010
Cody J. Barker 17 years old Wisconsin September 13th 2010
Felix Sacco 17 years old Massachusetts (bullied by peers) jumped from the Lynn Fells overpass into the southbound lane of Route 1 September 29, 2010
Terrell Williams 17 years old from Washington State hung himself (hoax) October 13th 2010
Chantal Dube 17 years old (goodbye letters and phone calls - suggest suicide) Toronto September 28th 2010
Tyler Clementi 18 years old Rutgers University freshman who's same sex sexual encounters were broadcast on the internet by Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei jumped from the George Washington Bridge to his death September 22, 2010
Raymond Chase 19 years old from Rhode Island hung himself to death on September 29th 2010
Zach Harrington 19 years old Norman, Oklahoma October 5th 2010
Aiyisha Hassan 19 years old California Howard University October 5th 2010
Chloe (Justin) Lacey 19 years old California Transgender teen suicide September 24th 2010
Tim Tilley 20 years old from Utah killed himself on July 11th 2010
David Standley 21 from Utah took his life on June 30th 2010
Jeanine Blanchette 21 years old Toronto (goodbye letters and phone calls - suggest suicide) September 28th 2010
Todd Ransom 28 years old from Utah killed himself in Battle Creek Canyon on July 19th 2010
Video from Facebook
Video from CNN Website
Participating in the rally
Eugene Lovendusky, Ryan Janek Wolowski, Brian Kent (singer songwriter as seen on MTV Networks Logo Television), Tym Moss (Radio host of Artists Exposed), Amanda Rose (holding bright pink Homophobia Kills sign), Shane Tate, Sergio Llanos, Alan Bounville, Étienne Meunier, John Trani, Roy Adams, Lorenzo Van Ness, Monica Menendez, Patty Rosado, Christopher Davis, Rita Kurniawan, Justin Misenhelder, Jake Goodman, Joe Birdsong, William Tuten, Blake Nebel Hayes and Toby Grace Editor Out in Jersey Magazine
Full set of photos from the rally can be found here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanisland/sets/72157625049069049/
Article, photos above and video links from Times Square New York City Equality Rally
by Ryan Janek Wolowski
The Rally was Organized by Queer Rising who are a grassroots organization created to demand queer rights through direct action. Formed in late 2009 as a response to the New York State Legislature’s denial of same-sex marriage to its constituents, Queer Rising has organized several actions demanding equality and justice for all. Actions include a Valentines Day protest in which members chained themselves to the New York Marriage Bureau. Tired of watching our rights be put on the back burning or given no attention at all, Queer Rising has vowed to continue to pressure legislators and the public until all queer people are equal.
For more on Queer Rising visit
http://queerrising.wordpress.com/
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