Quote:
Originally Posted by *FARTINMOWLER*
I just find it funny that gay people all of a sudden now have to tell everyone :/ No coming out for the hetero...
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Then why straight folks always mention that they're straight when discussing homosexuality? Hell, I'll bet someone replies to this thread without reading this post and they'll start off by saying "I'm not gay, but..."
I just need to post a short article here to guarantee folks breeze by without reading and the experiment can begin.
From: Al-Fatiha - LGBTQ Muslims <gaymuslims@y...>
Date: Tue Mar 18, 2003 11:50 pm
Subject: Press Release: Al-Fatiha Expresses Outrage at Cobb County Murder Verdict; Joins Atlanta Leaders at Candelight Vigil
************************************************** ***********************************************
PRESS RELEASE
AL-FATIHA FOUNDATION
Media Contact:
Faisal Alam, founder & director
Email:
gaymuslims@yahoo.com
US Cell: 202-271-0067
************************************************** ***********************************************
March 18, 2003 - Al-Fatiha Foundation, a US-based organization dedicated to LGBTIQ Muslims expressed outrage today at the February 28th acquittal of Roderiqus Reshad Reed. Reed who confessed to the beating and murder of Ahmed Dabarran, a gay black Somali Muslim man was acquitted by a jury in Cobb County, Georgia.
Dabarran, who was a Fulton County Assistant District Attorney was brutally murdered in May 2001. His killer confessed to the crime but a Cobb County, Georgia jury acquitted him. It is believed that Dabarran's perceived sexual orientation, his racial / ethnic background, and his religion were a motivating factor in the biased verdict.
Atlanta metro LGBT leaders, people of faith, and other people of conscience have expressed outrage at the acquittal of Dabarran's murderer and are organizing a candlelight vigil on Saturday, March 22, 2003 in Marietta, Georgia.
"Al-Fatiha joins in the mourning of Dabarran and sends its heart-felt condolences to his family during this time of grief," said Raja Qasim, an Al-Fatiha board member from Atlanta.
Representatives from Al-Fatiha will join the candlelight vigil on March 22 and urge LGBTIQ Muslims and allies from the metro Atlanta area to attend as well.
For more information on the candlelight vigil and the acquittal of Roderiqus Reshad Reed, please visit
http://www.cobbcandlelightvigil.com/
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GAY MAN MURDERED IN COBB, KILLER WALKS
Cobb Candlelight Vigil, Saturday, March 22, 7 to 8 p.m. on "The Square" in downtown Marietta.
Ahmed Dabarran, a gay man and Fulton County Assistant District Attorney, was brutally murdered in Cobb County and his murderer walked free because the trial focused more on the victim's sexual orientation than on his being bludgeoned to death with more than a dozen blows to the head. Every bone in Ahmed's head was broken and his skull pancaked so that it ended up in his spine.
According to experienced trial attorneys present in the courtroom, the Cobb prosecutor totally blew the case. He was indifferent and inept, and his disdain for this gay crime victim was obvious despite the fact that Ahmed was an assistant district attorney in neighboring Fulton County. The murderer confessed to the crime, but in Cobb County he got off because the victim was gay.
On February 28, 2003, a Cobb County jury acquitted Roderiqus Reshad Reed of the May 2001 brutal murder and robbery of Ahmed despite Reed's own admission at trial that he repeatedly struck Ahmed on the head with a pot in Ahmed's home, and then left with the victim's car, wallet, and cell phone.
Ahmed's friends, family and coworkers were outraged by the acquittal. This candlelight vigil is being organized by community leaders in Atlanta and Cobb County who share their outrage and want to draw attention to this grave miscarriage of justice.
Reed's attorneys' used the "gay panic" defense alleging that Reed killed Ahmed to protect himself from unwanted sexual advances. However, a medical examiner testified that Ahmed was struck over a dozen times on the head while he slept. A juror explained that the jurors reached their decision because they felt the state had not "dotted their I's and crossed their T's," according to a news report in the Marietta Daily Journal.
Rather than argue that the sexual orientation of Ahmed was irrelevant, the prosecutor focused on the sexual orientation of Reed. The prosecutors discomfort with Ahmed's sexuality led to the disastrous outcome of this trial. An experienced trial lawyer commented that instead of 2 prosecutors and 2 defense attorneys present in the court room, it felt like there were 4 defense attorneys present, all on the side of the murderer.
In a March 5th press release Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard, Dabarran's boss, stated, "Needless to say, my Office was horrified by this verdict. Because Ahmed was such a kind and wonderful person, it is extremely difficult to accept that the man who brutally murdered him has walked free." The acquittal led Howard to announce that his office is planning a national symposium for prosecutors on how to effectively combat the use of the "gay panic" defense. "Gay crime victims must receive equal treatment as crime victims," Howard said. "It is our hope that this symposium will honor Ahmed as the man that we knew him to be and reinforce this important principle of social justice."
Controversy is not new to Cobb County over its treatment of gays. In 1993 the Cobb County Commission passed a resolution stating that the "gay lifestyle" was incompatible with community standards. The following year Cobb County lost the rights to host the 1996 Olympic volleyball games after the successful protests of Olympics Out of Cobb, a group which was angry about the anti-gay resolution. The Olympics controversy drew unwanted national and international attention to Cobb County.
We are pleased to announce that the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), and Al-Fatiha Foundation (LGBTQ Muslims) have joined as sponsors of the candlelight vigil.
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Al-Fatiha
PO Box 33532
Washington, DC 20033
http://www.al-fatiha.org
gaymuslims@yahoo.com
202-223-3738
Al-Fatiha is a US-based organization dedicated to Muslims who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, questioning (LGBTIQ) Muslims and their allies.
That oughtta do it.