A History of Violence
By Josh Aterovis

A Swedish website lists 129 well-known gay individuals, including prominent actors, musicians, broadcasters, politicians and priests, and calls for their death. Despite having one of the world's toughest laws against the promotion of hate, Sweden's chief prosecutor says he is powerless to shut down the site because it frames its death threats in the form of Biblical quotes.

Britain is in the midst of a homophobic crime wave that has escalated to the point that police have urged the LGBT community to use caution when going out. A young man in Londonderry is in danger of losing his eye after a recent attack, and it wasn't the first time he'd been assaulted. A gay couple near London almost lost their home, and possibly their life, when they discovered someone had pushed incendiary material through their mail slot, starting a fire in their hallway. Fortunately, they were able to extinguish the fire before it spread. In another incident, a lesbian couple was pelted with snowballs that had stones and broken glass embedded in them. Police say they believe there have been dozens of other cases throughout the country that have gone unreported. Officials believe that the number of homophobic attacks on gays has increased with the publicity over civil partnerships, which became legal in December.

In New Bedford, Massachusetts, a community about 50 miles south of Boston, a violent attack rocked a popular gay club. A young man, 18 year old Jacob Robida, struck a customer in the head with a hatchet before shooting two others. As I'm writing this, Robida is still on the run while his victims remain in the hospital -- one in critical condition. When police searched Robida's room, they discovered Nazi regalia. The teen is being sought on charges of attempted murder, assault and civil-rights violations.

Anti-gay violence is on the rise -- not just in the U.S., but all over the world.

What is behind this increase in homophobic violence? Almost certainly, as the British officials stated, it's due to increased publicity as gay rights issues have taken center stage in countries all over the world. It's nothing new. Mankind has a history of violence, especially when it concerns a traditionally downtrodden group trying to claim equality. During the 60's civil rights movement, it was violence against blacks. The ignorant always resort to violence when their status quo is threatened. When the people the bigot has always demeaned and reviled suddenly dare to stand up for themselves and demand rights, the bigot will lash out.
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