(Language Warning)
Last week at the Dallas International Airport, a video was captured of a ranting man taken down by a crowd, after he physically and verbally assaulted a man he believed to be gay. The man shouted many expletives at the victim before he kicked him and punched him in the head. A few members of crowd took this chance to intervene, and brought the man to the ground. Airport police proceeded to put him in cuffs and take him away. When being cuffed, he attempted to explain himself, "Let me tell you the reason why I did it: Because this is America, that's why".
While any form of assault is obviously not acceptable, I feel that the fact that members of the crowd intervened in the fight was very promising, especially in a state like Texas that has been known to have pretty anti-same sex marriage sentiments and anti gay rights sentiments in general. This shows the progression of gay rights, as 20, maybe even 10 years ago, the chances of bystanders intervening in a fight like this was way less likely. This also shows, that even though a state may oppose same sex marriage on a statewide level, there maybe a lot of supporters of same sex marriage on the inside.
Questions: Since it is clear that there maybe more supporters of gay rights in Texas than expected, will Texas be one of the next states to recognize same sex marriage?
The article mentions that there was no official police report provided. How likely is it that this assault was charged as a hate crime?
6 comments:
First off, the man's actions towards the suspected "gay" man was unwarranted, excessive, and wrong. In a world of people who tend to stand silently and passively in the face of injustice, that intervention by the members of the crowd is a positive sign in that injustices towards homosexuals are not tolerable, and deserve action, not passivity. Despite what some believe homosexuality is not a choice, and we should not be punishing people without cause for something that is out of their control. (Replace homosexuality with race and the same applies.)
On that note, the country appears to be in a positive trend towards acceptance of gay marriage. Based on public opinion polling, despite Texas's 2005 constitutional ban of gay marriage, people are slowly shifting to a more friendly stance towards gay marriage and homosexuality as a whole. Given that the shifts are slow, I'd doubt that Texas will be the next state to pave the path to acceptance of gay marriage, especially due to the fact that a state constitutional amendment would be necessary. I am, however, hopeful, that the trend continues, and that Texas (and the country as a whole) will move towards acceptance.
For some more information on public opinion on homosexuality in Texas, (and a source I used for my second paragraph) click here: http://www.texastribune.org/2013/03/26/polling-center-texans-view-gay-marriage-shifts/
As Eddie said, attacking and harassing another person in such a manner is very wrong, no matter whether anybody is gay or not, for same-gender marriage or against. Even if I am against tobacco and alcohol, that does not mean that I have the right to harass and beat up those who use these substances. Furthermore, when the assaulter claimed "This is America, that's why," I believe he completely watered down and messed up what America truly is. America is not just a straight, traditional, "normal", and single color country. America was and is the combination of various people from various cultures and backgrounds. Had Puritans said, "This is Massachusetts. We don't like Quakers," there would be no America. The very backbone of America is a multicultural country full of different people living together. America cannot be the monotone and never-changing country that this homophobic man wants it to be. And it is heartwarming that people actually stood up for the victim. But Texas will most likely not be the next state to legalize gay marriage. It is a very conservative state. Though this is progress, there is a long way to go for gay rights.
Like Eddie and Elena said before, the mans actions were in no way justified. I want to acknowledge what you said before on how the bystanders actually intervened. I find this quite surprising because in most cases, it takes a official to break up a fight or subdue an attacker. The first responders here were just ordinary people and they tackled the man before he could do much more.
To answer the question if Texas may be one of the next states to legalize same sex marriage, I am not extremely sure they will be one of the next but definitely in the future. By studying polls from Gallup and other statistic based sources, the trend of same sex marriage support is most definitely rising. In this particular video, the man was aggravated by the fact that he accused the victim of being "gay" and the bystanders helping might be a signal progress on same sex marriage in Texas. But I think the bystanders were more driven by the fact the man was being physically hurt. It may take longer for certain states to approve same sex marriage but it will hopefully be legalized in all 50 states eventually.
Even though it is not known whether this man is actually gay or not, the bystanders' intervention definitely reflects some increased support for gay rights. However, this small group of bystanders and their act of compassion for defending a victim accused of being gay does not necessarily reflect the rest of Texas's huge population and how they feel about gay rights. Furthermore, some of these bystanders may have intervened just to do justice for the man being randomly attacked for the color of his shirt. As for your question, I think it might be somewhat hard to determine if Texas will be one of the next states to recognize same sex marriage based on just this one incident, but perhaps someday it may happen.
I think more than anything, that this is an example of people who are not willing to witness harassment firsthand. There is a big difference between supporting gay rights and marriage equality. Many of those bystanders who stepped in to defend the bullied man may very well have been against same-sex marriage. Maybe they believe that people should be treated equally, but the right to marry should only be between a man and a woman, as that seems to still be a popular belief in our country.
Also, consider that this took place in a Dallas airport, so many of the people in this scene may not actually be from Texas, and even if they are, being in one of its bigger cities is a recipe for more liberal beliefs than the rest of the state. Regardless, I think this was an example of people standing up for basic human rights, and it's unfair to assume that all of them also support gay marriage.
I think the question does not really fit with the video. In the beginning of the video, it clearly shows that the man is not of ordinance. Also, it was never indicated that whether the man was gay or not. The video really just shows a person assaulting another man on video and having generous bystanders restrain him. Whether the bystanders support or not support gay rights, the result would be the same: help the person whose being attacked. I do not think that this shows a true form of progression in gay rights in Texas, moreover just shows nice bystanders helping a citizen in danger. Thus, I do not feel that this video has anything to do with the progression of gay rights in Texas whatsoever.
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