Trans Woman Shelley Hilliard Died By Fire. Why The Deadly New Trend In Queer-Bas

[Shana A]

Trans Woman Shelley Hilliard Died By Fire. Why The Deadly New Trend In Queer-Bashing?
By:           Daniel Villarreal
On:           Nov 11, 2011

http://www.queerty.com/trans-woman-shelley-hilliard-died-by-fire-why-the-deadly-new-trend-in-queer-bashing-20111111/

There's a hot new trend in bashing LGBTs this fall and it involves setting them on fire. There have been at least four such attacks in the last three weeks—the latest being murdered trans woman Shelley Hilliard. But is there any reason behind this hateful trend? One expert thinks so.

[...]

So what's behind this ultra-cruel fad in burning queers? Phillip M. Miner of The Center for Homicide Research has an idea.

Miner says that despite the combustible association of slurs like "flaming ->-bleeped-<-gots" and the biblical story of God raining fire down upon the wicked sexual cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, that arson fits a larger pattern of passionate overkill committed against LGBT hate victims:

[SandraJane]

Why the GLBT Community Gets Burned


by  Phillip M. Miner, Board member, The Center for Homicide Research | Posted: 11/9/11 01:09 PM ET

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/phillip-m-miner/why-the-glbt-community-ge_b_1079828.html

I follow the Gay Voices section pretty closely. I like to know what other op-ed contributors are writing, and the vertical does a good job of keeping me up-to-date on LGBTQ(etc.) news. Over the past few weeks, I've noticed a trend in the hate-crime-related stories. Two weeks ago, a man in Pennsylvania, Steven Iorio, was set on fire by two friends after coming out to them -- they broke into his house, poured rum on his legs, and set him on fire. Last week, in Scotland, Stuart Walker was beaten to death, then set aflame. Shortly after, a man in Dallas, Burke Burnett, survived a brutal, hate-fueled attack in which he was beaten, stabbed, and thrown into a lit, burning barrel.

That, my readers, is a lot of arson in a couple of weeks.