Dear Andrew,
You made it to 72 years old before you were violently ripped from us.
You escaped disease and misfortune with your health to live a life in which you found joy in simple things. On the fateful day, you simply got off the bus so that you could help a friend in a wheelchair that you saw stuck in the snow. You lived your life happy only to have your head bashed at the age of 72 for being gay.
We promise to continue the fight you led with determination and get that capital dome in Lansing, MI lit up in red, white, and blue one night a year to honor Michigan's veterans. How ironic is it that you cared so much for our veterans yet you would never have been allowed to serve openly yourself?
I am sorry that the vitriol spoken by our leaders against gays and lesbians led to your death, Buddy. I have no clue why it happens but maybe they think no one pays attention to them. Unfortunately as you learned when the pipe wielded by a man who just accosted you on the bus about being gay cracked loudly as it broke your skull, people do listen to the hatred. Some of them even act upon their hatred as your assailant did.
Buddy, I cried today when I learned of your death. Perhaps I saw myself in your place - simply helping out a friend and not deserving to have my head cracked open for being gay. I hope that our elected officials who think we are an effective wedge read about you; I am not hopeful they will pay attention. It sucks being disposable in the eyes of many elected officials.
Rest in peace, Andrew.
I only wish our world was a safer place for us. I don't know when it will be.
Andrew Anthos died Friday of injuries sustained during an attack last week outside his downtown Detroit apartment building. Family members said he was a victim of an anti-gay hate crime.
Anthos was on a city bus Feb. 13 when a man asked him if he was gay. The man followed Anthos off the bus at the stop in front of his building and beat him with a metal pipe.
Anthos, whose family said he was gay, was taken to a hospital and later fell into a coma.
You can read more about Andrew Athos, his life, and the hate crime that stole him from us.