October 12, 2011

519 years ago today, Christopher Columbus set foot on land in the Western Hemisphere for the first time. They chanted a "Te Deum" in thanksgiving. Way to go, Chris! In celebration, I'll have spaghetti for supper, and follow it with a bit of Grand Marnier. (If you wonder what Grand Marnier has to do with Christopher Columbus, it's my little joke: I've heard more than one person call it Grand Mariner, which is, of course what Columbus was.)

13 years ago today, Matthew Shepard died. I blogged a year ago about attending a performance of "The Laramie Project" and "The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later." It is disheartening that there is still anti-gay violence in our country. But perhaps that is because bigotry can never be entirely eliminated and that the worst bigots feel that violence is justified. But that said, I think there has been progress. Matt's death made me and many others aware that such violence was still going on, and that therefore it needed to be stopped. There has been legislation and many people's attitudes have changed for the better. I hope there will be continued improvement. Hopefully we can get to a point where no LGBT people are in danger of violence or murder because of their sexuality.