Young lesbian couple shot in head in Texas

My wife emailed me today with an excerpt from a Corpus Christi newspaper, the Caller Times.  It seems a young lesbian couple were shot in the head in a park in Southern Texas.  My wife was very upset when she read about this story.  She was, in fact, quite frightened. I  was disturbed by the story also.  I went to the newspaper to try and find the original article, but a new story about the shooting was up on the front page.  The new story didn't identify the women as lesbians, but did say, "information from family indicated the women had a very close relationship."

Here is the excerpt from the original story, but following the link won't actually get you there.  You'll find the revised story instead.

Friends and family of two teenage girls in a same-sex relationship who were shot in the head in a South Texas park expressed shock and grief Tuesday over the incident in which one of the young women was killed and the other severely injured.

Mollie Judith Olgin, 19, and Mary Christine Chapa, 18, were found in knee-deep grass in a nature area in Portland by a couple Saturday, said Portland Police Chief Randy Wright, who confirmed to msnbc.com details first reported by the Corpus Christi Caller Times.


Rainbow ribbons, goodbye messages, flowers and cut-out hearts were posted around the site where they were found. On Friday, a candlelight vigil and walk will be held for Chapa and Olgin.

My question is simple, why has the Caller Times made this change in the details of their story? It is possible that the families requested the paper not refer to the women as lesbians.  However, a friend of the women who was interviewed by MSNBC openly discussed their relationship, and it seemed from the tone of several articles on the attack that the women were out and open about being lesbians.


This is a terrible tragedy.  One young woman was murdered, the other one's life--if she survives--has been radically and permanently altered.  However, not stating that the women were a lesbian couple does them, and all LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered) people a disservice.   The police initially said the women were "definitely" targeted.  If they were targeted due to their sexual orientation, that fact should be clearly and loudly proclaimed by everyone involved, including the media. 


Not identifying these young women as lesbians may save their families some embarrassment (though I hardly believe that would be their priority at this time).  Yet, primarily it would save the residents of the towns surrounding the attack from feeling uncomfortable.  It would save the law enforcement officials involved in the case extra paperwork, the wrath of other residents, and that same feeling of discomfort. 


Hate crimes against LGBT people are rampant, and growing every year in the U.S.  However, it is difficult to gather statistics on these attacks, because the vast majority of them go unreported as hate crimes, even when the individuals victimized insist they were targeted because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.  Why do these hate crimes so often go unreported, especially in places like Texas and other states in the southern Bible belt?


 According to FBI statistics, an average of 13 hate crimes are perpetrated on LGBT people per day in the U.S.  (http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/11/22/fbi.hate.crimes/index.html?hpt=T2) . But these statistics don't tell the whole story.  According to several gay rights advocacy organizations, up to 75% of hate crimes against LGBT people go unreported.  In addition, in the majority of states, sexual orientation or gender identity, or both, are not protected classes for hate crimes laws.  These states do not report hate crimes against LGBT people at all, because they are not required to keep statistics on them.



This leaves us with an incredibly skewed picture of hate crimes against queer folk in the U.S..  So, why does this even matter?  Because as long as these hate crimes go unreported and are glossed over (or even completely ignored) by the media, right-wing politicians and fundamental religious groups can continue to claim that gay-bashing is rare and that legislation against it is unnecessary.  Hate crimes laws specifically identifying LGBT people as a protected class are often framed as incursions on religious freedom by these right-wing same groups.  This is ridiculous.  Who in their right mind would deny a whole class of individuals the protection of the law?



Time will tell as to whether this story will be sanitized. I certainly hope it is not.   I encourage all my readers to think long and hard about this issue.  If you have been victimized, report it.  If you have been victimized because of your race, ethnicity, gender, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, or gender identity report that also.  The sooner survivors of attacks come out and identify themselves as a protected class of people, the sooner these types of crimes will be counted.  The sooner these crimes are counted the sooner LGBT people will count as humans who are being victimized.  The sooner the dehumanization by the religious and political right is recognized, the sooner it can be addressed for what it is, hate.