Thursday, Jul. 09, 2009
MB Pride Wrap-up
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As I settle in to write this week’s column I’m still recovering a little from a night of fun at Club Kryptonite. A good crowd, plenty of drinks flowing and phenomenal entertainment brought an end to the 2nd annual Myrtle Beach Pride weekend. I’d like to send a special thanks to all those who stopped by the Surge booth to chat on Saturday during the M.B. Pride Festival. It was another fun and successful event celebrating our lives and our families here along the Grand Strand.
Click Here to see Party Pix from this year’s festival at the Myrtle Beach Train Depot and from the farewell party at Club Kryptonite.
outraged over release
On a more somber note, Stephen Andrew Moller, who was convicted in June 2008 in relation to the death of 20-year-old Sean Kennedy, was released early last week. To give you a little background, in case you forgot, Kennedy, who was openly gay, died May 16, 2007 after he was struck in the face outside Brew’s Bar in Greenville. Moller was arrested in Kennedy’s case but was sentenced to three years in prison following a guilty plea to involuntary manslaughter. Moller was given credit for seven months’ time served during the sentencing and received early parole in February, moving his release date from September to the end of July. Now, in yet another blow to the family, Moller was released nearly a month early last week and Kennedy’s mother, Elke Kennedy, was informed by an automated message to her phone. “They say one thing and do something else,” said Elke Kennedy in a statement released by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). “He should have served every single day of the already short sentence; instead he was released from prison one week early. Where is the justice?”
In response, the HRC, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, S.C. Pride and other local LGBT community members have publicly condemned the state justice system. “This adds insult to injury,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese in a recent statement released by the organization. “To release a man just one year after his sentencing in this heinous crime and to inform the victim’s mother through an automated recording is despicable,” continued Solmonese. Witnesses testified at trial that Moller shouted anti-gay slurs while punching Kennedy, leading to his death.
As Solmonese points out “this is a text book case” of why we need federal hate crimes legislation in this country. The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act will give the Justice Department the power to investigate and prosecute bias motivated violence where the perpetrator has selected the victim because of the person’s actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. It would also provide local police and sheriff’s departments with federal resources to combat hate violence. The legislation passed in the U.S. House by a vote of 249 to 175 in April and is awaiting a vote in the U.S. Senate.
Last week, I reported that Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), the Kennedy family’s senator, sent a letter to S.C. clergy arguing that passage of the bill would be destructive to “faith, families and freedom.” Ryan Wilson, president of the S.C. Pride Movement, has called on the senator to stop lying about the Matthew Shepard Act which will not in any way infringe on our fundamental religious freedoms. In a recent statement, Wilson says “Sen. DeMint’s implication that issues of sexual orientation and religion are at odds is very disappointing. I expected better from my senator.”
What’s damaging to faith, families and freedom, Sen. DeMint, is hate that came in the form of young Stephen Andrew Moller’s fist and now comes from your voice. Continued disrespect for human life, based on the actual or perceived sexual orientation of someone is simply ridiculous. It is time that we stop arguing over the differences in our opinions on sexuality and realize that even through religion we can learn that hate and violence is what’s detrimental to our “faith, families and freedom.”
To learn more about Sean Kennedy’s story and HRC’s working coalition with the Kennedy family to pass hate crimes legislation, visit www.FightHateNow.org.
out & about
Saturday, July 11 – CLAWS (Coastal Leather Allegiance to Wisdom & Service), will host its annual Christmas in July party at Time Out! on Saturday. CLAWS hosts several fundraising events throughout the year for various local and national charities. Doors open at 5 p.m. and there is no cover before 9 p.m., $5 after. Time Out! is at 520 Eighth Ave. N. in downtown Myrtle Beach. For more information, visit www.timeoutmbsc.com or call 448-1180. For more information about CLAWS, visit www.clawsllc.com.
Sunday, July 26 – Model, fashionista, partier and pop culture icon, Amanda Lepore makes an appearance at Club Kryptonite on July 26. Part of her world tour, this will be Lepore’s first appearance on the Grand Strand and likely first in South Carolina. World famous for her appearance, aided by multiple plastic surgeries, Lepore has served as the advertising face for Heatherette, M.A.C. (cosmetics) and more, has lent her musical talents to gay rapper Cazwell and the film “Another Gay Movie,” and most-notably has appeared in much of photographer David LaChappelle’s work. She has been called the Marilyn Monroe of transsexuality. General admission tickets are $10 and VIP tickets, which include a meet-and-greet with Lepore are $20. Club Kryptonite is at 2925 Hollywood Drive, Myrtle Beach. For more information, visit www.club-kryptonite.com or call 839-9200.
Till next week, have fun and be safe
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