Plea Change in San Diego Baseball Bat Attack
James Carroll, Lyonn Tatum, and Kenneth Lincoln have changed their pleas to guilty.

I vividly recall the rage I felt when I wrote about the baseball bat attacks at San Diego's gay pride. It validated every unsafe feeling I've had around groups of straight pig-men. Reading about a hate crime makes it difficult to remember that there are good straight people. Maybe those times, the times when I fully understand the reality that being gay can actually mean physical danger, aren't the times for level headed, scientific like detached reasoning. Maybe those are the times I should be angry.

But, deep, deep down, I don't like being angry. It's self-consuming and I don't want to emulate even the emotions of a hate-crime perpetrator. Extrapolated out, it's got something to do with violence begetting violence. Understanding that isn't easy when I read that a major part of my identity puts me in danger for absolutely arbitrary reasons.

I'm always thankful for the sanity of Martin Luther King:
Hate begets hate; violence begets violence; toughness begets a greater toughness. We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love. (1958)

That's one tough, but worthy, ideal to strive for.