Openly Gay Mayoral Candidate was Beaten, Set On Fire and Thrown Into River

[one...two...tree 2,762]

The family of Marco McMillian, a 33 year-old openly gay candidate for mayor of Clarksdale, Mississippi released a statement yesterday saying that he was beaten and set on fire before his lifeless body was dumped near a river. Last Thursday, police arrested a 22-year old man who, like McMillian, is African-American and charged him with the mayoral candidate’s murder. Although the motive for the murder remains unknown, the circumstances of the murder suggest a possible anti-gay hate crime. According to the family, “[w]e feel this was not a random act of violence based on the condition of the body when it was found."

http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-74666823/

[Penny Lane 8,159]

Nothing I've read suggests hate crime, it seems to have been a personal dispute taken entirely too far.

[^_^ 5,021]

He probably pretended to be a woman and hit on the guy. You know how those people are.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

Hey Steven, could you post the story in the text? Here at work I can't access the link.

[Teddy B 17,252]

Hey Steven, could you post the story in the text? Here at work I can't access the link.

I tried posting it for you Marvin, but I can't access the link either. It's from the Chicago Tribune and apparently one needs an account.

[^_^ 5,021]

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&gl=us&tbm=nws&q=marco+mcmillian&oq=marco+mcmillian&

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Hey Steven, could you post the story in the text? Here at work I can't access the link.

JACKSON, Mississippi(Reuters) - A gay, black mayoral candidate killed last week in Mississippi wasbeaten, dragged and set on fire before his body was dumped near a river,according to his family.

In a statement issued late on Sunday, the familyof Marco McMillian said a coroner who performed an autopsy on his body toldthem about the gruesome manner of death.

"We feel this was not a random act ofviolence based on the condition of the body when it was found," theMcMillian family said. "Marco, nor anyone, should have their lives end inthis manner."

Coahoma County Coroner Scotty Meredith declined tocomment on the family's statement that McMillian was beaten and burned.

The body of McMillian, a 33-year-old candidate formayor of Clarksdale, Mississippi,was found on Wednesday. A day later, law enforcement officials arrested a22-year-old man, Lawrence Reed, who is also black, and charged him with murderin connection with the case.

McMillian was one of the first viable openly gaycandidates to run for office in Mississippi,according to the Victory Fund, a national organization that supports homosexualcandidates.

Autopsy results are not expected to be releaseduntil toxicology tests are complete, which could take two or three weeks, Meredithsaid.

The Coahoma County Sheriff's Department, which isleading the investigation, has released few details about the killing or apossible motive. Law enforcement officials say the killing is not being treatedas a hate crime.

McMillian had been missing since February 25 whenhis sport-utility vehicle was involved in a head-on collision in a rural partof Coahoma County inthe Mississippi Delta. McMillian was not in the vehicle at the time of theaccident.

McMillian recently moved from Memphis backto his hometown of Clarksdale torun for mayor as a Democrat. He had faced state Representative Chuck Espy, aDemocrat, and former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Luckett, anattorney, along with two other candidates.

McMillian's campaign focused on reducing crime andunemployment in Clarksdale, acity of roughly 18,000 people, said campaign spokesman Jarod Keith.

A once-booming agricultural community, the cityhas steadily bled residents and jobs over the years and now faces high levelsof violence and unemployment.

Another Democratic candidate for mayor, DorisHaynes Miller, said she recently was robbed at gunpoint in the town.

(Editing by Kevin Gray and Andrew Hay)

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

The family of Marco McMillian, a 33 year-old openly gay candidate for mayor of Clarksdale, Mississippi released a statement yesterday saying that he was beaten and set on fire before his lifeless body was dumped near a river. Last Thursday, police arrested a 22-year old man who, like McMillian, is African-American and charged him with the mayoral candidate's murder. Although the motive for the murder remains unknown, the circumstances of the murder suggest a possible anti-gay hate crime. According to the family, "[w]e feel this was not a random act of violence based on the condition of the body when it was found."

http://my.chicagotri...e/p2p-74666823/

So if you kill someone, set them on fire, and dump the body in a river do you really need to add the word hate.Would that not be a hate crime no mater what.

it is a unthinkable crime anyway. Why should it be worse if the victim is a different skin color than the killer. Doesn't that kind of perpetuate racism and stereotypes. Is that like killing an animal on the endangered species list. More liberal madness

[lostinblue 1,989]

Sounds like a down-low brother found out he had a case of aids and went crazy.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

Sounds like a down-low brother found out he had a case of aids and went crazy.

Ah, one of the more ignorant posts I've seen in awhile...

And someone actually +1'd it. The "people" on this forum never cease to amaze me.

Edited March 5, 2013 by Evylin

[JohnR! 5,495]

Ah, one of the more ignorant posts I've seen in awhile...

And someone actually +1'd it. The "people" on this forum never cease to amaze me.

The sad part is that it is proving to be easier to cure aids than homophobia!

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/opinion/sunday/homophobic-maybe-youre-gay.html?_r=0

WHY are political and religious figures who campaign against gay rights so often implicated in sexual encounters with same-sex partners?

Enlarge This Image

Chloé Poizat

In recent years, Ted Haggard, an evangelical leader who preached that homosexuality was a sin, resigned after a scandal involving a former male prostitute; Larry Craig, a United States senator who opposed including sexual orientation in hate-crime legislation, was arrested on suspicion of lewd conduct in a men’s bathroom; and Glenn Murphy Jr., a leader of the Young Republican National Convention and an opponent of same-sex marriage, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge after being accused of sexually assaulting another man.

One theory is that homosexual urges, when repressed out of shame or fear, can be expressed as homophobia. Freud famously called this process a “reaction formation” — the angry battle against the outward symbol of feelings that are inwardly being stifled. Even Mr. Haggard seemed to endorse this idea when, apologizing after his scandal for his anti-gay rhetoric, he said, “I think I was partially so vehement because of my own war.”

It’s a compelling theory — and now there is scientific reason to believe it. In this month’s issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, we and our fellow researchers provide empirical evidence that homophobia can result, at least in part, from the suppression of same-sex desire.

Our paper describes six studies conducted in the United States and Germany involving 784 university students. Participants rated their sexual orientation on a 10-point scale, ranging from gay to straight. Then they took a computer-administered test designed to measure their implicit sexual orientation. In the test, the participants were shown images and words indicative of hetero- and homosexuality (pictures of same-sex and straight couples, words like “homosexual” and “gay”) and were asked to sort them into the appropriate category, gay or straight, as quickly as possible. The computer measured their reaction times.

The twist was that before each word and image appeared, the word “me” or “other” was flashed on the screen for 35 milliseconds — long enough for participants to subliminally process the word but short enough that they could not consciously see it. The theory here, known as semantic association, is that when “me” precedes words or images that reflect your sexual orientation (for example, heterosexual images for a straight person), you will sort these images into the correct category faster than when “me” precedes words or images that are incongruent with your sexual orientation (for example, homosexual images for a straight person). This technique, adapted from similar tests used to assess attitudes like subconscious racial bias, reliably distinguishes between self-identified straight individuals and those who self-identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual.

Using this methodology we identified a subgroup of participants who, despite self-identifying as highly straight, indicated some level of same-sex attraction (that is, they associated “me” with gay-related words and pictures faster than they associated “me” with straight-related words and pictures). Over 20 percent of self-described highly straight individuals showed this discrepancy.

Notably, these “discrepant” individuals were also significantly more likely than other participants to favor anti-gay policies; to be willing to assign significantly harsher punishments to perpetrators of petty crimes if they were presumed to be homosexual; and to express greater implicit hostility toward gay subjects (also measured with the help of subliminal priming). Thus our research suggests that some who oppose homosexuality do tacitly harbor same-sex attraction.

What leads to this repression? We found that participants who reported having supportive and accepting parents were more in touch with their implicit sexual orientation and less susceptible to homophobia. Individuals whose sexual identity was at odds with their implicit sexual attraction were much more frequently raised by parents perceived to be controlling, less accepting and more prejudiced against homosexuals.

It’s important to stress the obvious: Not all those who campaign against gay men and lesbians secretly feel same-sex attractions. But at least some who oppose homosexuality are likely to be individuals struggling against parts of themselves, having themselves been victims of oppression and lack of acceptance. The costs are great, not only for the targets of anti-gay efforts but also often for the perpetrators. We would do well to remember that all involved deserve our compassion.

[Penny Lane 8,159]

There's no cure for the attitude some people choose to have. The only thing to do is take comfort in the fact that their country is moving on without them in regards to many social issues. We'll be glad to leave them behind.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

Ah, one of the more ignorant posts I've seen in awhile...

And someone actually +1'd it. The "people" on this forum never cease to amaze me.

It's popular, but there are more of them than we know.

So if you kill someone, set them on fire, and dump the body in a river do you really need to add the word hate.Would that not be a hate crime no mater what.

it is a unthinkable crime anyway. Why should it be worse if the victim is a different skin color than the killer. Doesn't that kind of perpetuate racism and stereotypes. Is that like killing an animal on the endangered species list. More liberal madness

No it doesn't, but when over 70% of hate crimes are against blacks, it tells you we have a long way to go.

[SMOKE 1,426]

Nothing I've read suggests hate crime, it seems to have been a personal dispute taken entirely too far.

'Set On Fire'

Edited March 5, 2013 by SMOKE

[Penny Lane 8,159]

'Set On Fire'

What confused you?