The handling Kieran Daly’s gay bashing, allegedly of at the hands of two Marines, has spilt LGBT activists in Savannah, Georgia. One side criticizes Savannah police for only filing misdemeanor charges against the Marines and city officials for regularly “turning a blind eye to [LGBT] violence.” The other side commends the city for its response, saying it’s common to file lesser charges immediately after arrest and revise them as an investigation proceeds; they also say city officials “have advanced change in [Savannah] with regard to respect, acceptance, and diversity” though there’s still room for growth. The former group has launched Act Out Savannah a group dedicated to bringing the “fight for equal protection, equal rights and equal justice to the streets.” To the streets? Does that mean there’s gonna be a block party? Score.
Cam
Yeah, the problem being that the police report is in conflict with what several eye witnesses reported.
M
I think I’ll be keeping my distance from the following states. If you live in any of these states, I apologize but will NOT be gracing you with my presence. These states should not be given gay dollars.
They include:
Alabama
Georgia
Mississipi
Texas
Utah
South Carolina
Virginia
Florida
Louisiana
Tennessee
Kansas
Kentucky
Arkansas
North Dakota
South Dakota
Oklahoma
littlebylittle
@M:
So you don’t live in any of these states and are deciding not to take any voluntary trips to them? What a convenient form of activism–not going someplace you probably had no plans to go to anyway.
Don’t forget these states have lots of gay people living in them–because they were born there, have families there, have careers there, etc–and spend their “gay dollars” there and benefit from other people spending in these states (because that’s how schools and hospitals and parks get built). Life is complicated, and people live in particular places for all kinds of complicated reasons. Staying away or leaving doesn’t create the kind of change that will make these places better for LGBT people. People like Ceara Sturgis and Constance McMillen (in Mississippi) are making real differences for you to read about on Queerty while you just stay in your more gay-friendly state and pat yourself on the back.
Manny Manuel
@littlebylittle: Bravo! Well put.
JJ
Yeah, so there! Plus, there are PLENTY of other reasons to stay out of those states. I’ve been to many of them. Trust me, there’s no reason to go.
Brutus
@littlebylittle: Your argument, if taken to its conclusion, seems to suggest that we should all be morally compelled to move to the state (or country) with the worst GLBT record.
No thanks.
WiseUp
And the really funny thing is that Kieran Daly is looking so questionable himself now. Won’t show his medical report to the police? His arrest back in January. Etc.
WiseUp
Incidentally, I’d love to visit Savannah, ever since reading Midnight In the Garden Of Good And Evil.
InTheMix
What a shame. After more than two decades later it’s obvious not that much has changed in Savannah.
WiseUp
Yes, but it’s not just the Savannah gays, In the Mix. We’ve seen gay men in other states like Oklahoma and Michigan make false acusations of gay-bashings too.
alan brickman
Seen this situation too often….don’t get drunk and touch straight guys…you’re just asking for it…seriously…
whatever
@alan brickman: maybe gay porn has homos thinking that every roided up, lowlife, str8 goon is just a coupla beers away from nasty humping session?
Phil
@Brutus: No, it doesn’t; you’re being a tool. Leading by example (and litigation) doesn’t have to mean leading by example in intolerant areas and intolerant areas only.
WiseUp
You gay children can give me all the negative ratings you want, but that doesn’t change the facts about fake-accusation cases like Shawn Bennett in Michigan and Phillip Nelson in Oklahoma. Sometimes gays lie, like anyone else. The bad thing about this Savannah case, though, is that it will be used as a good argument to keep gays out of the military. Kieran Daly harrasses these guys, finally gets punched in the head, like he did in the other case, arrives at the hospital screaming “hate crime!”, a few desperate activists in Savannah decide to use it to their advantage and create a protest where over a hundred people show up and send hate mail to the Marines’ facebook pages! Without even knowing the full story. If that’s not an argument that gays lack judgement and can be nothing but trouble, what is? Thanks a lot, Daly.
Ryan
And how do you know these “facts”, Wiseup? Were you there? Why do you assume Daly is lying? Also, verbal harrassment doesn’t excuse phyical violence, legally or morally. And that’s assuming that the Marine’s aren’t lying. Which, let’s face it, they’re the ones with the motive to do so, not Daly.
Ryan
Also, eye witnesses report no “harrassment” of the Marines, something that you’ve chosen to ignore, not that it is an excuse to beat someone up and put them in the hospital anyway, something you’ve also chosen to ignore.
WiseUp
Ryan : Have you followed the case in the Savannah papers? You’ll see. Incidentally, nobody says it was right for Daly to get punched. Nobody is allowed to take the first swing, even if he’s being harrassed. The Marines should have called a police officer to get Daly away. It was NOT just a wink. Activist Clarke is trying to make a name for himself politically, and it’s crashing down on him. Supposedly (though this I don’t know for absolute) there’s a camera that caught the whole incident which should be the clincher.
WiseUp
Who are these supposed eyewitnesses?
Ryan
The first Queerty article on this topic linked to a Savannah article that spoke of eyewitnesses seeing no harrassment. Indeed, there’s no evidence of any harrassment at all. Interesting that you acknowledge that even if harrassment did occurr, it wouldn’t justify beating someone up and putting them in the hospital, yet you still go on and on about it, even going so far as to speculate hopefully about a video of the “harrassment” showing up. Weird. It’s kind of hard not to read into that, that you think harrassment •would• be an excuse. You even accuse Daly of lying about being bashed, something that’s not even in dispute. Also, bonus points for ominously referring to Daly’s January encounter with the police, implying that it in some way impugns his credibility, as if he were accused of lying about a phyiscal attack or sexually assaulting someone. Nice work. Fox News would be proud.
WiseUp
Another thing to consider : How is somebody who was bashed on the 12th and left with supposedly life-threatening injuries released from the hospital on the 13th and is walking around town giving interviews ? No wonder he won’t turn his medical report over to the authorities.
WiseUp
What “eyewitnesses” though? That’s so vague. Go see what they’re saying about the case now, even Savannah gays. (LOL, you’re making fun of Fox News, and relying instead on Queerty! Queerty which said Don Imus deserved his cancer for saying “nappy-headed ho.” Yeah, Queerty is real reliable).
WiseUp
And yeah, Daly’s encounter in January where he was arrested for road rage and the racial slur sort of does paint a small portrait of his character, I’d say. And what gay guy doesn’t come out of the closet until 25 ?! And still lives with his wife and kids?? What a character.
Ryan
Are you kidding? Lots of people don’t come out right away. What a shitty thing to attack him for. Says a lot about you. I imagine many Southern gay guys a reluctant to come out because of people like these Marines, and their defenders, people like you. And I searched and searched for any evidence that the Marines were harassed, and found none. You keep saying “look it up” yet you provide no links. Again, weird. Also, don’t think I didn’t notice that you basically ignored my whole argument and diverted to talking about Fox News.
WiseUp
That’s the way I believe it happened, Ryan. Obviously you prefer, for some other reason, to believe two big bad homophobic Marines decided to bash an innocent guy just because he’s gay. So…let’s just wait and see.
WiseUp
Even with the frauds out there, though, I do know that very real gay-bashings do happen. The Sucuzhanay case being tried in NYC right now is a perfect example. The last Vancouver one too.
Ryan
No links. Nothing to support any of the accusations you’ve made on this blog. Can’t really say I’m surprised. You prefer to “believe” that one average-sized guy went chasing after two big Marines with catcalls and whistles until they decked him. You believe this even though there’s no evidence to support it. And even though you claim this doesn’t excuse assault, you obviously believe it does. Then, to top it off, you criticize the guy for waiting until he’s 25 to come out.
counterpoll
@Wiseup: Why are you so obsessed with this case? You sure seemed revved up about it. So many posts about something that “doesn’t involve you” seems curious to me.
Joe in Savannah
Ladies! Ladies! Why such hostility? Come on now! We aren’t children. I wish to make a few points here, as I live in Savannah, and I moved to Savannah, from Beaufort, SC, where the Marines are stationed. First of all let me start of by saying that these two in no way represent the entire Marine Corps. I was born and raised in Beaufort, and it is nothing but a military town. My grandfather was a retired captain in the Marines, and I spent all 4 years of high school in Marine Corops ROTC. The marines are all about honor, respect, and things of that nature, so for them to do this goes agains all things Marines hold near and dear to their heart. There are bad apples in every bunch, and you cant classify an entire group off of the actions of a few…something us gays should know about. That being said, Savannah is a wonderful city. It caters to the gays in many ways. I am out and open and never recieved a rude comment or look. Its just not how we do it in the south…people with class don’t anyway. Savannah has many college, with many younger students my age, in their twenties. The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD as it is know locally) has a huge gay population. Don’t think that this is the south that you always see with everybody driving monster trucks and carrying guns. If thats your perception of the south, then you should come for a visit to see our hospitality.
Now, I do not know Mr. Daly, at all. But Wiseup, he was in the hospital longer than you think. He wasn’t released on the 13th, as you claimed. According to local reports, as of the 13th, he was still in the hospital, his brain still bruised. And if an attack on a single gay person makes you not want to visit, M, then you are very quickly running out of places to go! I pity you for not spending your gay dollars here. If anything it should be the reverse. You should come here, show your support for our community. Not doing so, I believe, would only hurt yourself. You cant come up with a whole list of states that you refuse to visit for any reason. As I said before you can’t classify and entire group of people off of a stereotype, because stereotypes are bred out of hatred and contempt for one another.
Now, I have no say so in this case at hand. I was not there, and I did not witness anything. I was however at the gay club the night afterwards with a group of friends from work, and that is only a matter of 3 or 4 blocks, I believe. This is not the norm of Savannah, I can tell you that. That being said, it is my personal belief that this should be treated as a hate crime. Sure, the marines were probably a little too intoxicated for their own good. I do not think that Daly is a racist, as the marines can contess, we all do stupid things when we are drunk. However stupid these actions though, we should still be held accountable for them. Thats the debate at hand right now.
Bobby
Wiseup is part of the gay man’s wifes family. She was obviously fat and ugly and he left her cunt ass. Period. Get over it and hopefully her family stops trolling all our gay websites.
John Dalton
fuck you homos i hope you all get left on fences for being so uppity
jason
I get so sick of this gay panic defense wherein gay bashers seek to rationalize their thuggery by claiming they were hit on by gay guys. Does that mean that we, as gay guys, should smash a woman’s face if she makes a pass at us?