Homophobe Smacked Down At Waffle House
13About the Author
Wayne Besen is the Founding Executive Director of Truth Wins Out and author of “Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth” (Haworth, 2003). In 2010, Besen was awarded the “Visionary Award” at the Out Music Awards for organizing the American Prayer Hour, an event which shined a spotlight on the role American evangelicals played in the introduction of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill.
violence to combat hate will not transform the heart of the enemy.
Yes it will Pete.
Alas, violence is about the only thing the “enemy” understands. Anything else is seen as weak and spineless.
Cynical am I? You betcha.
Maybe it won’t change their hearts, but I’ll settle for fewere hate crimes because the bigots are thinking twice about messing with us.
I didnt see violence. I saw an exercise in classical conditioning in action. Hopefully the subject is a fast learner and wont require repeat exercises. Although for teaching and entertainment purposes it would be quite valuable.
The LGBT community should never start fights. But, it is our duty to finish them in a memorable way that makes gay bashing a rather hazardous game and a high risk/low reward activity.
See that dude on the floor? Want to make a bet he’ll keep his mouth shut next time?
So, we didn’t change that jerk’s heart. At least we changed his mind. He thought that faggots were weak little creatures who passively allowed themselves to e derided and abused. Whoops, I guess the tough guy learned himself a good lesson. Not the best way to get an education, for sure, but still effective.
Wanton, unrestrained cruel treatment of LGBT people prevailed for centuries because there were no consequences – social, legal or physical. So gay people have been society’s punching bag and silence has been an unspoken endorsement. When there are consequences to attacking a person or group of people verbally or physically, then nearly everyone stops expressing public bigotry.
When there are not consequences, then we are all on the honor-system. Lack of self-defense inflames bigots in two ways, first it gives them the green light to be abusive, secondly, it projects the very weakness that reinforces their stereotypes, further justifying their bias. Until there are consequences, then bigots will keep spewing hatred. Legal and social consequences will only go so far. There is a place for street justice.
If anyone is so idealistic as to discount this and expect Ghandi-like embodiment for all LGBT people to live as pacifistic punching bags, then try dropping the N-bomb and then going to the courts and criminal justice system to level assault and battery charges against your attackers. The courts will do very little for someone who clearly was stupid enough to bring it upon themselves. This man stuck his head inside the mouth of a crocodile and then wondered why he got bit.
Gay people have muscles and fists too, and while they should not be a matter first resort, this man would have not been reached by a sappy intellectualized diversity scolding – that approach would have only show him, and everyone else, that we are a bunch of whips, perpetuating their stereotype. My only complaint is that they stopped beating him too soon. We needed to see an ambulance and him in a hospital. I would have gotten a stick and gotten a few good whacks to his skull, gotten in his face and looked him in the eye and make it real clear to him that a gay man did this to him. This sends a message that if someone cannot be respectful on their own, then at least there are consequences to be feared if they cross the line.
why do i have the urge to shout “You go Gurlll”?
God, I love this. It’s about time such clods get a taste of their own medicine. How sweet it is.
Violence to combat hate may not transform the heart of the enemy but it will transform his conduct and that is enough for me.
Like I said on HuffPo: “As much as I don’t like violence, it’s about time homophobic haters who go around picking on LGBT folks finally get a taste of their own medicine. We’ve cowered in the corners for years after being beaten up and sent off to lick our wounds. We’re not taking it anymore. We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it!”
I think most people would agree there’s more violence in the world than we’d like. One way to reduce that is to teach people basic rules of morality and conduct. One such rule: Physical violence can never be justified as a response to mere words. The only time violence is ever justifiable is in self defense from physical violence.
I’m not one to automatically dismiss all physical hostility as unacceptable (though I think a sound understanding of physical violence leads one to conclude that if you wouldn’t pull out a gun and shoot someone, you shouldn’t attack them by hand, unless you’re extremely skilled – the difference between potential for permanent injury or death is far smaller than most take for granted, and those who don’t know what they’re doing are more likely to accidentally burst someone’s liver or fracture someone’s skull on a hard surface, than they realize).
Anyway, I would like people to remember that the a******s who do violence to members of the LGBT community often feel just as justified in doing what they do, as the majority of the folks commenting here undoubtedly feel in agreeing with the actions of those in this video. At the end of the day, you better be damn sure that the reason you’re okay with it is because reasonable, objective thinking led you to conclude that the psychological impact onto the guy in question was ethically necessary for the greater good, and not because of the basal, low-end-of-human-feeling sensation of guttural satisfaction when someone who ‘deserves it’ in your eyes is getting ‘what they deserve’. Or you’re guilty of the same problematic thinking that allows people to perpetrate unjust harassment, psychological torture, and violence upon others.