Friday, November 20, 2009

Apathy And Gay Bashing In Texas


Down around Houston, earlier this month, sixteen-year-old Jayron Martin was beaten with a metal pipe by one of his classmates while eight others stood around and watched. Martin says it's because he's gay. Bad enough, right?

But let's toss a little apathy into the mix. What makes this hate crime worse is that Martin knew it was coming, and had begged two principals at his school and his bus driver for help before he was hit repeatedly with the pipe. Help never came, at least not from the school or the driver; it took a neighbor with a shotgun to stop the beating.

Hours before the beating, a friend of Jayron Martin's warned him that a group of students was out to get him, and so Martin went to school administrators, who took a written statement from him. They told him they would call him to the office; they never did. Nor did they call his mother and tell her of the planned attack.

On the bus ride home, Martin noticed the group of students on the same bus; he told the driver what he'd heard, but the driver neither said nor did anything. When Martin got off the bus, the gang of boys began chasing him into one of his neighbors' home where one of the teenagers beat him for seven minutes with a pipe. The attack didn’t stop until the man who lives in that home came downstairs with his shotgun.

Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested the 16-year-old who beat Martin, and that boy is facing aggravated assault charges; no other arrests have been made at this time. The school district is pursuing its own investigation, and has already placed the bus driver on paid administrative leave. They are reviewing the actions of an assistant principal.

Aren't the teachers and administrators of our schools supposed to protect our children? Shouldn't a bus driver take the word of a young boy seriously? Why does it take a stranger with a shotgun to protect these kids? Is it because, as a gay child, he is invisible and unheard? I mean, I get it that the LGBT community is seen as 'less than;' isn't right, but that's how it is for right now. But that doesn't mean that we should be beaten; that doesn't mean that the children shouldn't be protected. it's a crime. From the basher to the school administrators to the driver. They are all perpetrators of a crime, for doing something with a pipe, and for doing nothing to stop it.

7 comments:

  1. It is truly sad news. I watched the news report and was happy that the Mother is suing the school and the bus driver. But is that really going to help?

    Ugh, why can't we all just get along?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am reading this and tears are forming and my heart is weakening! I can't imagine what that kid must have been feeling - it's just not right!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous12:21 PM

    I don't know what the rules are in Texas but I know here in RI if a teacher, administrator or other staff gets a complaint like that it's supposed to be followed up post haste.

    Looks like the school district might be on the hook for a legal settlement if they did in fact "Take a statement".

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is why it is so important to take people at their word! (That is...until they cry wolf too many times.)

    But in this case, someone along the way should've stepped in and took a precaution. Clearly the boy was frightened and worried.

    Too many people are concerned with not getting involved, or 'staying out of it', and that just sucks!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous7:53 PM

    chatting with our psychiatrist at work, I askesd her whether violence is a learned behavior or and instict that as humans we haven't learned to control. I observe how ignorant (and weak) minds at all levels of society can be fed with stupidity creating irrationale responses. It is pretty scary if a 16 yr old teenager got it in his mind to kill another human. Animals at a lower zoological level kill either for food, territory or dominancy. Humans are by far the most dangerous specie on the planet.
    I can only hope that this attack will make the victim much stronger and become a civilized fighter.
    Perhaps we all should write letters of support any suggestions?
    Carlos (the evolutionist)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Bob, someone should have stepped in and taken him seriously, there aren't any excuses. Clearly he was being tuned out, by almost every adult in his life. They are all accessories, whether they want to loo at it that way or not.

    ReplyDelete

Say anything, but keep it civil .......