Christian mother kills child for being gay
Matthew Shepard: The legacy of a lgbtq+ college student 20 years after his brutal murder
Twenty years ago, Matthew Shepard was a "smart, funny" 21-year-old, no different than any other young dude that age.
He was an "ordinary kid who wanted to make the society a better place," his parents remembered.
But in October 1998, that all changed, when the openly gay college pupil was abducted, overcome and tied to a fence in Wyoming.
His life ended a few days later, and with it came a widespread awareness of the dangers that members of the LGBTQ community meet every day. The homophobic brutal killing also served as a catalyst for progress in America's laws and culture.
In the two decades that have passed, however, it remains debatable how far the country has come since the shock of that crime.
A gruesome attack
Shepard, a student at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, spent Oct. 6, 1998, at a meeting of the school's LGBTQ pupil group planning upcoming events for LGBTQ awareness week, Jason Marsden, executive director of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, told ABC News.
He then grabbed coffee with friends before heading to a block in Laramie in southeaste
Woman pleads guilty in murder of son, 8, idea to be gay
The mother of Gabriel Fernandez, the 8-year-old Palmdale, California, young man who died in 2013 after being routinely thrashed and starved, pleaded responsible to first-degree murder on Thursday and admitted her son's death involved the infliction of torture.
Under the terms of the plea deal, Pearl Fernandez, 34, is expected to be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to NBC Los Angeles. Her sentencing date is June 7.
Pearl Fernandez's boyfriend, Isauro Aguirre, 37, was convicted of first-degree murder in December. Jurors recommended the death penalty for his role in fatally torturing the young boy. Aguirre is scheduled to be sentenced on March 8.
During Aguirre's trial, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Jon Hatami called him an "evil" man who "liked torture" and said Aguirre systematically abused Gabriel Fernandez because Aguirre consideration the young boy was gay.
The case is reminiscent of the November murder of 14-year-old Giovanni Melton, whose dad, Wendell Melton, allegedly shot and killed him because he could not accept his son's sexuality.
The Nevada teen's former foster mother,
Why my own father would have allow IS kill me
I've not spoken to my father. What he did was very hurtful. He's my father. He's supposed to preserve me and defend me, no matter what. But when he said that he'd hand me over to Isis, he knew what they were going to do to me. He knew. Maybe in the future I can forgive him, but right now I don't even wish to think about him. I long him out of my life.
I talk to my mum every week, though. It's tough for her because there's no network coverage and she has to proceed out of town to get a signal. She's the most amazing gal in the whole world. She's cultured, respectful - very bright. She loves me and when she was trying to smuggle me out, we never discussed my homosexuality. She was just focused on getting me to shelter. Because she is my mother, I think she always knew that I was gay. But all I felt from her was her love, her ultimate love. I never said goodbye to her because when I actually managed to break out, there had been so many failed attempts that I was sure I would be help and see her again.
All I need is a hug from her.
I still have lgbtq+ friends at place but we're not in contact any
God Gave Me a Same-sex attracted Son . . .
Editor’s Note: On a peaceful Saturday morning in early September I sat in my backyard, savoring the scene before me: the grass and trees and black-eyed Susans, all feeling different now — as the sunlight and scents took on an autumn mood. It reminded me of a unforgettable essay from years advocate , and that got me to conjuring a list of all-time personal favorites published in the magazine over the years. I decided to share them with you, a fresh one each Saturday morning until the calendar reaches 2024. The summer 2004 edition devoted most of its feature section to the provocative topic of homosexuality. This essay, written 20 years ago, was the foundational piece that provided the impetus for exploring the subject further. —Kerry Temple ’74
Mark gazed out the small window of his dorm room. It was Saturday morning and the bitter icy bleakness outside matched his mood. He may acquire made a mistake going to school so far north and so far from home, but he had chosen this academy in northern Michigan because he loved the innate environment of the north country where he could ski, hike in the woods and enjoy the serenity of this sparsely populated place.
Ask the Bigot: Who is Katy Faust and why is the daughter of lesbian parents against male lover marriage?
American Katy Faust was raised by her dyke mother and her companion and she now runs a blog called asktheBigot, which is fiercely opposed to gay marriage.
She became a Christian in elevated school and was concerned by the plight of children.
She is in Canberra to lobby the Federal Government against gay marriage and she told Lateline why.
These are her key points:
1. She loves her lesbian mother and her partner:
"While my mother was a fantastic mother and most of what I do well as a mother myself I execute because that's how she parented me, she can't be a father. Her partner, an incredible gal — both of these women have my heart — cannot be a father either."
2. She says children of gay parents are pressured into supporting them:
"There's several children that have contacted me even since I started writing about this, saying 'I agree with you, but I'll never come out and speak about this publicly because my affair with my parent is too tenuous'."