I remember the first time i heard the term "hate crime". It was mid-october, 1998 and the media were
covering the story of a young gay man by the name of Matthew Sheppard. When the reports first started coming
in they were fairly vague, only a few small details about a young man that had beaten and left for dead on th outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming. Over the next few days the reports grew more and more intense and graphic. I remember being disgusted and terrified to hear the story of a boy, not much older than I,
being beaten, tied to a fence post and left to die all because he was gay.
it couldnt have been more then a few days affter the reports first started coming in that a young Matt Sheppard
had died.i can remember that even from the first reports the media had labeled this a hate crime.
the Matt Sheppard story is one of the most infamous hate crime stories to ever hit the media. When people
hear the term hate crime, this story would probably come to mind. to think of a hate crime is to think of beatings, and death.
the problem is that there are so many hate crimes commited on a smaller scale that nobody ever hears about because the media don't cover
smaller stories.
if someone carves "fag" into the hood of a gay man's car, would you consider it a hate crime? it is clearly an act of vandalism and its obviously wrong, but is it a hate crime? yes, most definately it is. It may not be a
major headline in a newspaper, or breaking news, but it is a hate crime none the less. it is motivated by the same feelings of hatred
and intolerance to diversity. By definition, a hate crime is a crime committed against an individual because of their race, religion, ethnic
originor sexual orientation.(jost)
problem: a victim of a so called Smaller scale hate crime might feel reluctant, scared, embarrassed to
actually report the crime committed against them because the media has covered such huge
cases, so when you or i become victims of smaller cases... we just dont report them.
obviously the media is not completely to blame. We as individuals should take responsibility
also.We only take out our rally posters when the media covers high profile hate crimes. we are all advocates when churches are being bombed, and
gay men are beaten and killed. where the hell are we when jewish men get spit on, or a lesbian is slapped in the face? WHY ARE WE NOT TAKING OUT OUR RALLY POSTERS WHEN WE HEAR ABOUT
THESE SMALLER SCALE HATE CRIMES? The crimes themselves are committed with the same motivation. the same hate. the same intolerance.
so shouldn't we be just as inspired to come together then ... rally posters and all?
i am aware there are no real answers or solutions to all this... im just sayin we need to be more aware
of what is happening as far as hate crimes are concerned....
we should be advocates against hate crime whenever and wherever, ready to raise our voices
and not only when the media deems it worthy:)

hi,

so.... i went on a date with this guy:) big surprise huh lol, well it was kinda one of those dreaded blind dates, and to my surprise this guy was somewhat normal. i mean he was funny and cute, and the next morning he was just as sweet as when i first met him..... j/k, but i did go on a date with this guy and he is seems to very cool:) i mean i cant talk to him without smiling, and laughing. so yeah... good times good times:-)

any way, i havent been online this week cause my new damn computer crashed because of a certain somebodies 360 page..... so a warning .... even 360 has its viruses:) i didnt know lol... maybe im nieve. anyway.... i should be back in action by monday... anyways... have a good weekend and ill see ya all later:)

well im just sittin here relaxin before i go to work..... and ive got somethin on my mind... the dating scene:) god help me lol. i have more then emerged myself in the dating scene lately.... i dove in head first swearing to just be light hearted and have a lil fun....

well going on a bunch of light hearted dates is one thing, but now ive found myself in a bit of a strange position.... let me tell you... im pretty str8 forward... i tell anybody i go on a date with that im not gonna just jump in to anything.... ect... so where have i found myself:

date #1: this guy is very sweet, but he calls me, and texts me telling me that he's in love with me which freaks me out just a lil.... ive only known him for about a month.... come on... after our second date he started tellin people that we we boyfriends...

date#2: guy2 has decided after i told him after our date that i would love to be his friend....to make some crazy effort to make me jealous. he emails me.... texts me... and sends me im's constantly... tellin me that this is what friends do... they sleep with guys and talk about him... and he makes it oh so obvious that he wants me to get jealous... well im not;) this why i just wanted to be friends....

date#3: this guy is fun, and exciting, and overall he's just pretty cool except for the fact that he doesnt understand that im not a big fat hoe:) we have good times but then he always wants to go that extra mile.... and theres no leading up to it either... lol ... no magic moment...lol its like hi how are u.... ok lets do it:)

then theres always the guy who stole 50 bucks outta my roommates purse right before he told me how hard he was fallin for me :) lol.

maybe im comin of as a jerk here, and if thats the case then so be it... im a jerk. i guess that through all this ive decided not to settle on someone who its not gonna be right with... i know thats the best thing. i need someone i can be crazy about, and someone who is equally as crazy about me:) anyway.... have a great day.

so i know its been forever since ive been on here, but i have good reason.... ive been working my butt off. Actually alot has happened since the last time i was on here. For starters im single again..... its the shits but whats a boy to do? i spent a good while being depressed over a relationship lost but i think its safe to say that im pretty close to getting back out there and lettin my heart be trampled on again..... lol.

secondly, like i said, ive been workin a grip! about 2 months ago i got a promotion at work and ive been workin like crazy. i love having a load of responsibility lol. its kinda scary but its fun to know that my boss trust me to talk to doctors about patients, and they think i can manage two buildings full of patients, and workers to boot. its a good thing.... lol.

im also getting ready to start school again...... i think. i say i think cause im not sure if i can afford to go back this term with just moving into my own place and all that jazz.

so yeah, life has been crazy for me, full of ups and downs but overall its been good.... i look forward to chatting with all of you soon seeing as i just got a new pc. im pretty stoked about that. anyways..... love and hugz to all of you........ gary