A Sense of Protection
Every man, per James Truslow Adams’ The Epic of America, deserved a life that was “better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.” While some viewed this as wishful thinking, many adopted the view that all it took was a little perseverance and hard work.
Their dreams might have differed in detail, but the general goal was a successful job, a family, and a house with a white picket fence.
A fence creates a feeling of privacy, security, and defense. Fences can prevent peepers peering at your petunias, prevent unwanted animals from ripping out radishes, as well as deter burglars from gaining access to your house.
In 2013, a gay couple from Texas comes home to discover “burn FAG” on their fence after being denied a venue for their wedding reception, according to the Dallas Voice.
A post in an Ocean Beach, California community board requests that somebody paint over a fence that had the words “Bisexual” and “Fag” spray painted on its façade.
The Italian art of fencing is a sport created during the Renaissance period. It uses two swordsmen, two rapiers, and a lot of skill. Opponents face off against each other and attempt to score points by touching rapier to opponent.
In September of 2014, Jackson, Mississippi news reporters shared a story of “Say no to gay marriage. Kill them gays.” being written in chalk around the area of the governor’s mansion.
The real skill in fencing is not the ability to score points, but rather it is the ability to defend yourself from your opponent’s rapier. Special suits are crafted to offer protection against an opponent’s thrusts, but the first line of defense is your own ability to deflect your opponent.
Fox 5 DC shared coverage of the phrase “Down With the Gay agenda” painted in Dupont Cirlce, a premier gay area of Washington DC. Because many of the residents of the area are LGBT, the news later reported the message had been updated from anti-gay to anti-gun. After a few hours, the new message read “Down With the GUN agenda,” with “GUN” being a bright red addition to the previously blue statement.
The offices and classrooms of Hartford stages saw numerous anti-gay messages painted in their main building located in Hartford, Connecticut on March 28, 2016. Along with the painted messages, tables were broken to leave a message.
Anti-gay hate happens everywhere and every day. Whether it’s a verbal attack in the halls of the local high school, or it’s a message spray painted on the fence of a gay couple, the prevalence is clear. With the legalization of gay marriage in all 50 states, it seems there has been a spike in the anti-gay hate that has been occurring. This is the opposite of what might have been expected by many.
On October 10, 1998, the New York Times shared a story titled, “Gay Man Beaten and Left for Dead; 2 Are Charged.” James Brooke reported a story on a young man named Matthew Shepard who was lured away from a bar by two straight men, beaten, burned, tied to a fence, and left for dead. The event occurred in Laramie, Wyoming, and it later became the subject of a play titled The Laramie Project.
The New York Times published another story about Matthew Shepard on October 13, 1998. The headline was simple, “Murdered for Who He Was.” The message was clear; Matthew Shepard was killed because of his sexuality.
“In the United States, for all its consecration of equal rights, the members of minority groups have often had to pay a terrible price just for being who they are…but other groups have been the victims of that murderous impulse too, and homosexuals have always been among them.”
I remember my elementary school had phallic graffiti on the side near the kindergarten playground. At the time, it was unclear who did it, or why.
When I was in high school, I faced relentless comments from my peers because of my sexuality. I would see movies where the word “faggot” and “queer” were written in Sharpie onto the lockers of gay students, and I would have to tell myself, “at least I didn’t have it that bad” to normalize the things that were happening to me. I watched television shows where students were smashed against doors and cafeteria floors because they liked someone of the same gender.
Novels were written about the kids who would hang themselves because they couldn’t stand the bullying they endured every day.
As a child, I dreamt of being an actor. Now, I dream of being a professor of American Literature at a college in Santa Fe. I only want four things in Santa Fe; I want a job, a mini cooper, a dog, and a house with a vine covered fence.
