A woman student and columnist who writes for the The Comment, the college newspaper at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts, was physically attacked after two people who approached her on campus asked her if she was the one who wrote an editorial supporting marriage equality for same sex couples (from the Boston Herald via The Raw Story).
A man approached Mogg-Barkalow, who was wearing a student newspaper sweatshirt, Thursday night on campus and asked if she wrote the column advocating gay marriage before the woman with him punched Mogg-Barkalow in the face, Polleys said.
Bridgewater State University spokesman Bryan Baldwin said there were no arrests as of last night. […]
… Baldwin said it’s premature to call the attack against Mogg-Barkalow, who is gay, a hate crime.
This is what she wrote to incite her attackers to take matters into their own fists:
Proposition 8 [Note: for a link re: the history of Proposition 8 in california, go here] was banned on February 7, causing celebrations all over the U.S. Excitement spread across the country when the law was signed, giving same-sex couples the right to marry again. There was never an ounce of equality or respect in mind when the right was taken away in the first place. In fact, the support of the law was supposedly said to be for educational purposes. It was never specified what education. In other words, this was a load of religious bigotry. […]
How would you feel if politicians and religious leaders told you not to feel a certain way? It would kind of feel like your parents were telling you to do something. I know how to run my life and I can love whomever I want. […]
Good thing she didn’t write a column in support of contraception. Who knows what the “Family Values Militia” would have done to her if she had stood up to the current Republican cause celebre promoted by Rick “I don’t hate gays or want to control women’ right to decide matters regarding their own bodies, I’m just trying to save America from their evil influence” Santorum, (not to be confused with that other “Santorum”).
Students who support Mogg-Barkalow have already planned <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/290763524323924/"organized a rally to demonstrate their support for her, scheduled for Tuesday.
I don’t know if it is a hate crime as defined by law, but the crime was certainly committed by a hateful bigot.
In a country where no amount of chest thumping by the Right can deny that diversity is the strength of America it is time to remind the small minded that we will not cull toward the hateful.
We all got punched in the face here.
I have found that the same thing happens in court. If there is no good counter-argument, attorneys will simply attack the individual. Character assassination on a high level. And so it is here, but literally an attack.
You know where that happens practically every time? Rape cases.
This is just the beginning if Santorum becomes the GOP nominee – I have a really bad feeling about November after Obama wins handily…