Floridian 17-year old Simmie Williams Jr. found himself dead this weekend after being gunned down in a drive by shooting. Friends and police suspect hate may have been a motivating factor, for Williams often dressed as a girl and, in fact, was dressed to the nines at the time of his death:
Simmie Williams Jr., 17, was attacked on the 1000 block of Sistrunk Boulevard by two young men who wore dark clothing and might live in the neighborhood, police said. Williams, who was wearing a dress and was known in the area by his first name or as “Chris” or “Beyonce,” was shot about 12:45 a.m. Friday and soon afterward died at Broward General Medical Center, police said.It’s unclear what Williams was doing in the area, about four miles from his house, but police are investigating whether he was working as a prostitute, officials said.
Williams’ mother said her son was openly gay, but she didn’t know what he did when he went out at night, and she didn’t know he wore women’s clothes.
Broward County gay rights organizations are angry over Williams’ death, of course but, as Equality Florida’s Nadine Smith says, not surprised: “We can be horrified, but we cannot be surprised. Just 10 days ago, 15 year-old Lawrence King was gunned down in California.” Isn’t America supposed to be “the best” country in the world? Why, then, do we keep hearing stories of dead queer teenagers. This shit’s really depressing!
We’ve also included the official EF press release after the jump…
Gay 17 Year-old Murdered in Broward
Community Outraged Over Continuing Epidemic of Hate Violence
(Ft. Lauderdale) Today, Equality Florida and the coalition Transgender Equality Rights Initiatives (TERI) expressed outrage over the murder of Simmie Williams Jr., a gay 17 year-old who was gunned down this past weekend on a street corner in Broward County. Police are investigating the murder as a possible hate crime based on the words witnesses say were exchanged before the shooting.
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“We can be horrified, but we cannot be surprised,” said Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida. “Just 10 days ago, 15 year-old Lawrence King was gunned down in California. Nearly a year ago, Ryan Skipper was brutally stabbed and his body dumped on the roadside here in Florida. And a week after Ryan’s murder, 20 year-old Sean Kennedy was killed outside a gay bar in South Carolina. All of these deaths were preventable. We all must have the will to act and compel our schools and our legislature to confront the harassment and violence directed at gay and transgender young people.”
Across the country, studies have shown that perpetrators of hate-crimes are overwhelmingly male, 18 to 24 years-old, and that they often get their start with bullying in schools. With this in mind, Equality Florida has made it their top legislative priority to pass a statewide Safe School bill that would address the epidemic of bullying and violence in Florida schools.
“It is time we demand our government to act and implement policy to decrease the risk factors affecting LGBT youth,” said Michael Emanuel Rajner, co-founder of Transgender Equality Rights Initiatives. “Of the 900 youth in Broward County transitional living facilities, an estimated 25% are LGBT, many have been banished from their homes simply for being LGBT.”
A memorial is being planned for 4:30PM Thursday, February 27th at the 1000 block of Sistrunk Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale where the murder occurred. A town hall meeting will follow at 6:30 at the Gay & Lesbian Community Center of South Florida 1717 N. Andrews Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL to discuss the issue of hate crimes in Florida.
Equality Florida is Florida’s only statewide human rights organization dedicated to the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. Through education and advocacy, the organization is committed to building a state of equal rights for all Floridians, inclusive of all sexual orientations and gender identities.
emb
Again we see the tragic result of the vile crap spewed by people like Ken Hutcherson (“God hates soft men†and “God hates effeminate men.†Hutcherson went on to say, “If I was in a drugstore and some guy opened the door for me, I’d rip his arm off and beat him with the wet end.‖Queerty, below). Do these mullahs not understand that words have power? Do they think they can spout venomous hatred to their merry hearts’ content with no consequence? The rightwing in this country, aided by the theocons, neocons, and other cons of the bush administration, have created a nation where this sort of horrible, heartbreaking tragedy can happen, and there is blood on all their hands.
todd
Welcome to George Bush’s Amurica.
Alan Fleming
“Found himself dead”
WTF? not only is that technically impossible, it’s pretty irreverent considering you’re talking about a homicide here.
What’s wrong with “was killed”?
Eric
Agreed. Using phrases like “found himself dead” is a disrespectful tone — not to mention the placement of a piece “memorializing” a death in the LGBT community is right smack next to the asinine series of shiny, shirtless guys with abs.
praenomenal
Eric, there is nothing disrespectful here that I have seen. At least it is being reported. I have not heard much on this at all.
andrew
Hey guys,
Eric and Alan, you’re not the only people who found my phrasing offensive. I’m sorry you feel that way, but it wasn’t my intention. We’re here to entertain and inform – perhaps the line got crossed on this one, but it’s not a jab Simmie, for sure.
With regard to the story being reported: I wonder if the presidential candidates will release a statement on this death as they did for King, who was shot at school, not on the town. Does the context make King’s murder more press friendly or is there something else?
xo
AB
Bill Perdue
There have been three murders so far this year and who knows how many beatings. The rate will very likely jump, if the past is any indication, by 10% to 15% just because it’s an election year.
During election periods everyone seems to gang up on us,. As they always do the christians and other hate groups are ramping up their hate campaign in their churches and on TV and radio. The Republicans, as usual, are going to scapegoat us and lie about our agenda for equality. And the Democrats, as usual, are running away from us as fast as their little legs will carry them. To prevent the Republicans from claiming that they’re GLBT friendly they gutted ENDA and then flushed it and the Matthew Sheppard Hate Crimes Bill down the toilet. And as always, , the Democrats refuse to repeal Billarys DOMA and DADT.
Their actions send a message about us that street thugs hear loud and clear, and it’s a message that emboldened the thugs who butchered Lawrence King, Sanesha Stewart and Simmie Williams. The thugs know that they have friends in high places; priests and pastors who say that their mythical god hates us, Democrats who’ve washed their hands of us to that the bigots won’t think they support our agendas (as if) and Republicans willing to let a few more of us die to get catholic, baptist and mormon votes. They’re all despicable.
We have a long time till November and we’ll have to watch each others backs because it’s obvious that the christians, the Republicans and the Democrats don’t give a rat’s ass about us.
Ron
“found himself dead” is a flippant, rude comment that denotes contempt for the subject. You might write that about a robber that gets shot by his own gun, but for a gay website to refer to the victim of a hate crime this way is bizarre.
Kola
‘found himself dead’ How does one find themselves dead? Also what does ‘dressed to the nines’ mean? feather boa? tutu and tiara?
Why did you also refer to a murdered transgendered young woman as ‘he’?? I think journalism is not really for you. Is English your first language?
This was an appalling hate crime and I hope the queer community in America will not let it pass unnoticed.
Gary
I feel horrible about the fact that we can’t feel comfortable enough to walk down the street without fearing death or bodily harm.
I also think it’s sad that in this age, we have to use words like “the Christians” or “the republicans” like it’s supposed to be the antithesis of the word “Gay”. I, for one, can consider myself a “Gay Christian”, and I don’t think that it’s an oxymoron, I think the two need to go hand in hand, after all, we can’t forget that someone created us, and we were created this way for a reason, and it shouldn’t be negative.
By the “right-wing” mentality attacking my lifestyle, they are dividing our country even more than it already is, but aren’t we feeding that divide by attacking them? That’s not what equality was supposed to mean, and those that started our civil rights movements would be turning over in their graves right now if they knew equality would come at this price.
I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and it’s painfully obvious that by attacking each other, rather than working together for a solution, we will only end up the Divided States of America, and that’s not a place I want to live.
There should be no need for marches and parades if we’re truly equal. If we’re truly equal, then we need to go about life as if the word “minority” doesn’t exist, rather than celebrating trying to out-differentiate ourselves. Life isn’t meant to be a competition in this way…
I hope the soul of Simmie and all the other’s affected by this, can rest easy now. I know I may rant, but nothing will improve unless both sides of the equality argument are willing to make these changes.