Vigil for Simmie Williams, Black Gay Teen Killed in Fort Lauderdale
One week after the murder of a 17-year-old black gay teenager, family, friends and members of the Fort Lauderdale gay community hold a vigil to remember the young man who was possibly gunned down because he was wearing a dress at the time.
More than 100 mourners remembered Simmie Williams Jr. on the 1000 block of Sistrunk Boulevard, the same corner where he was gunned down by two young men exactly one week ago. "We just want to know why someone would do that to him when he was a very quiet person, and he never talked to anybody," Shannon Terry tells WSVN-TV. Video.
Williams' mom, Denise King, seen next to Matt Foreman of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in video by the Sun-Sentinel, stood "silently with a picture of her son in one hand and a bouquet of flowers
in the other. A tear ran down her right cheek as activists began to
speak." Ms. King does not speak with reporters. How can she? The moment is too painful.
It's worth noting the mayor of Fort Lauderdale is a rabidly vocal critic of the gays. Last summer Mayor Jim Naugle mounted a ridiculous crusade to install automated public toilets to deter public restroom sex on the beaches—except police never arrested anyone for having sex in restrooms. The Bible-beating and anti-gay homo hysteria create an atmosphere where anti-gay violence is deemed acceptable.
There is a $10,000 reward for arrests in the Williams case and police "suspect the two unknown men shot and killed the 17-year-old possibly
because of the fact he had donned women's clothing and was openly gay." You don't say ...
Vigil Held for Openly Gay Teen [WSVN-TV + Video]
Vigil for Slain Teen [Sun-Sentinel + Video]
Images of Beach Sex Vex Mayor [Pam Spaulding]
You May Want to Read ...
Black Gay Teen Shot Dead in Fort Lauderdale [R20]
Rashawn Brazell: A Memorial [R20]
Six Months [R20]
Mother's Day Blues [R20]
News: "Person of Interest" Sought in Chicago [R20]
Rod 2.0 Exclusive: Personal Feud Led to Shootings [R20]
6 Gay Black Men Shot at Chicago Party [R20]
Crime Against the "Gay House" [R20]
Remembering the Chicago Victims [R20]
Shooting at Chicago House a "Tragedy" [Advocate]
Person of Interest Sought in Chgo Shootings [Advocate]
Crime Against the Gay House [Advocate-PDF]
Chicago Mother Suspects Gay Son Was Killed After Online Hookup [R20]
Thanks for the follow up on a story that the MSM sadly marginalizes if not outright ignores...
Posted by: Andy in Seattle | 29 February 2008 at 22:50
Simmie AKA "Chris" was a very peaceful young man, with a determination to be himself and a acheiver. I miss "Chris" , so much so ...I plan to coax out his killers! They will NOT get away with this! R.I.P. > you ignored me, but I loved you!
Posted by: SM | 02 April 2008 at 00:32