Hundreds of New Yorkers gathered to remember Mark Carson (right), a 32-year-old gay Brooklyn man who was shot and killed in New York’s Greenwich Village Friday in the fifth hate crime to plague the city this month. The peace rally was arranged by Adam Feldman, a theater critic for Time Out New York, who spoke passionately before the crowd about the importance of gun control.
Another rally will be held at the city’s LGBT Community Center (208 West 13th Street) Monday, May 20 at 5:50 p.m. City council speaker Christine Quinn will address the crowd. Members of the community will be joined by other elected officials, LGBT community leaders and allies to march to the site of Carson’s murder to demand an end to hate crimes against the LGBT community. A Facebook page has been created to raise awareness for the rally.
UPDATE:
GLAAD has announced it will join the march tomorrow night. Actor Wilson Cruz, a spokesperson for the watchdog group, issued the following statement:
How about we take this to the next level?
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“Our hearts grieve for Mark’s loved ones. While our community has made progress, this is a stark and sobering reminder of the rife homophobia that still exists in our culture. These crimes are intended to scare and silence LGBT people, however as a proud New York native, I am confident that our community and our city will not be silenced, but will rather come together to stop this rash of senseless violence. Speaker Christine Quinn, other elected officials, and the New York City Anti-Violence project continue to showcase strong leadership in addressing the safety of LGBT New Yorkers. Yet, we are reminded still that, until we rid our society of the discrimination that allows us to be seen as inferior and less than human, we will never truly be safe, even in one of the most accepting cities in the world.”
See photos from last night’s vigil below.
Photos: Facebook, Twitter.
hephaestion
The article says the next rally will be on March 20. It will be on May 20. Please edit the article to say May 20 so that people do not get confused or miss the rally.
Jeton Ademaj
wouldnt it be nice if we could somehow discover a single individual who was thwarted from killing a queer person thanks to a vigil?
yep…
Windsor519
Just read the story in the NY Times about this. Sounds like Mark has a wonderful, loving mom. You know, too often, when one of our own is taken away from us in the LGBT world, their family can sometimes feel like they no longer have any ties to our community, since they themselves aren’t gay, and their gay loved one is gone.
We need to make sure people like Mark’s mom are ALWAYS welcomed and a part of our community. I’m just so sorry to see this has happened, yet again.
ChiChi Man
@Jeton Ademaj: Mass protests aren’t about body counts or lack there of. They are about actually doing something — making a social contribution, taking the time to go somewhere and show support.
The people who attended this vigil HAVE accomplished something. They’re keeping this issue in the public conscience — and in a way that is far more effective than the two seconds it took you to post a snarky comment from the comfort of your clueless ivory tower.