Crosses were burned on their front lawn, their mail box was bashed in, death threats were recieved on their answering machine and family friends told them the townspeople don't like their "Gay Parties." Eventually they were forced to move when their house was burned.
Together Roy Kirkland and Doug Sebastian made an independent documentary titled:A Cross Burning in Willacoochee. It documents their experiences in 1993 in Willacoochee, GA (a little town off of I-75 in South Georgia).
Recently the independent documentary was submitted to The New York International Independent Film Festival.
I watched the trailer [sorry--unable to imbed] and wondered, could this happen today?
The traditional tactics of the KKK playbook were employed to great effect to rid the little town of the "offending" undesirables (Roy and Doug, perhaps the only openly gay relationship in town). There were cross burnings on the front lawn. The mailbox was bashed twice. Death threats were recorded on the answering machine.
After reading the account, I was intrigued that these two guys are both white, and Roy Kirkland grew up in Willacoochee, GA and his brother lived next door. Kirkland was no stranger to the community and was one of 8 kids in a Mormon family. Kirkland's brother was a neighbor.
According to the Valdosta Daily Times Valdosta Daily Times
A Willacoochee City Council member had already told a newspaper reporter that the South Georgia town was mostly "anti-gay." Investigations into the cross burning had produced no suspects.
and
Family members warned the couple that some people were not comfortable with the couple’s "gay parties" and lifestyle.
and
Responding to the cross burning, one law-enforcement officer reportedly suggested that the couple throw it away.
lastly
The movie reminds viewers familiar with the case that no one was ever arrested for the cross burning. Voices were never identified on the recorded death threats. The house fire was never officially ruled an arson.
Today we have the Matthew Shephard Act:
The Matthew Shepard Act, officially the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, was signed into law by President Barack Obama on October 28, 2009. It expands federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.
Perhaps the most important provision of this act is to document hate crimes according to this diarist, Looking for Mauve Explaining the Matthew Shepard Act details some of the ramifications of the new law.
4708 is one of the mentioned and more valuable parts of the Act in the long term. It simply adds orientation and gender identity (as well as crimes committed by and against juveniles) to existing requirements about collecting crime statistics. There is an enormous lack of solid data on the breadth of violent felony hate crimes in the United States.
Maybe you and I can't directly prevent hate crimes but I think it is important to report GLBT based hate threats to the authorities because as Roy Kirkland states,
"The freedom to disagree is what makes America the greatest nation in the world,"
Kirkland goes on..
"But when some begin to cross the line to discriminate or condemn others because they are of a different color, religious belief or sexual orientation, that’s when America seems no longer the land of the free."
I want to see this movie.