1st July [part 2]

LGBT people who died today:
1931 – John Gambril Nicholson – UK Poet / Teacher / Photographer – Born 6th October 1866
1943 – Willem Arondeus – Dutch Artist / Author / Nazi Resistance Fighter – Born 22nd August 1894
1999 – Gary Matson – US Hate Crime Victim – Born 1949
1999 – Winfield Mowder – US Hate Crime Victim – Born 1959
2001 – John Scott – Fijian Director General of Fijian Red Cross / Hate Crime Victim – Born 1948
2001 – Gregory Scrivener - ?? Hate Crime Victim – DOB unknown
2004 – Marlon Brando – US Actor – Born 3rd April 1924
2005 – Luther Vandross – US Singer – Born 20th April 1951

Today's death list is particularly notable by the two double murders (1999 & 2001) committed solely for the fact that the victims were gay:
Gary Matson & Winfield Mowder were murdered in the USA. They had been together for 14 years and had contributed greatly to their local community by founding a community garden to help feed the hungry, a children's natural science museum and an arboretum.
They were murdered by two white supremacist brothers simply because they were gay.

John Scott and Gregory Scrivener were a couple living in Fiji. John Scott was born there and had long been a member of the Fijian Red Cross and was an activist who fought to restore Fiji's overthrown 1997 constitution which had protected LGBT people. He and his partner were killed in an apparent homophobic attack, with possible political motives too.

People often say "why should you have a Gay Pride day? We don't have a Straight Pride!"
It is events like these two murders, which both took place within the last 10 years, that prove that we still have a long way to go and a lot to fight for and protest against.
Until everyone is accepted for who they are and not who they love, the colour of their skin, or the god they worship (or do not worship), then we all still have a lot of work to do. Until everyone has the same rights, we still have a lot of work to do. I am not a very political person, and I do very little for the community itself, but I have been told that I have made a difference in my life.

• I am now an openly gay person to my family, friends and to my work colleagues.
• I have helped other gay people to accept their sexuality themselves and to come out to friends and family.
• I have also changed the opinions of formerly homophobic people to be accepting and understanding.

All this I have achieved through just accepting who I am myself, and learning to be me.

Gay Pride is a way of showing that we are here, we are not abnormal, we are not diseased, we are not abhorrent. We are your sons and daughters, parents, cousins, work colleagues and friends. We are you.