Homophobes of the Week

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I am a South African book-sniffing pants-wearing coffee-drinking scarf addict and journalist. I believe that everyone has the right to be exactly who they want to be and no one should be anyone someone else has told them to be. I awkwardly try to marry nerdy with rock 'n roll. Sometime I get it right.

Latest posts by Beyers de Vos (see all)

Homophobes of the Week - 28 April, 2014
Homophobes of the Week - 17 April, 2014
Homophobes of the Week - 9 April, 2014

This week I am saddened and sickened by the lengths people will go to stop other people from being who they are. It also feels a little like this week’s list is raining on the parade of those people who finally have the right to get married in England and Wales, but people who are this close-minded should be exposed regardless and on as many platforms as possible. So here we go:

Taiwan: The small Asian country’s top court this week denied a same-sex couple the right to marry, claiming it was illegal and that marriage should be “between a man and woman”. This is the third such appeal in so many years that has been summarily dismissed. While coverage of the increasing homophobia spreading throughout Russia and Africa has been abundant, few media outlets have looked at the gay rights record in Asia, a record which leaves a lot to be desired.

Some hateful guy: An unnamed 28-year old man was arrested near Cape Town, South Africa, this past week for killing David Olyn, a 21-year old gay man from the same area. The perpetrator reportedly invited some teenagers, who were drinking nearby, to come and watch him “kill a moffie”(moffie is South African slang for faggot). Olyn, who was a well-known drag queen in the area, had his head bashed in with a brick and was set alight. His body was found the next day. The accused is set to appear in court on April 3. Words cannot.

Jessica Dutro: The 25-year old mother from the US who allegedly beat her son to death because she thought he was gay. This is what prosecutors told the court when Dutro appeared in court in connection with killing her 4-year old son in 2012. In Facebook messages Dutro sent to her then boyfriend, who has already pleaded guilty to a charge of manslaughter for his part in the same murder, she admits that she thinks her son is gay, saying “he walks and talks like it. Urg”. The state believes this was her motive for killing her son, who allegedly suffered through several years of abuse before his death. The trial is ongoing.