Go back one page

--------------------------------------------------------------
Permission granted by author for anyone to distribute this
writing free of charge (including translation into any
language)...under condition that no profit is made therefrom,
and that it remain intact and complete, including title and 
credit to the original author.

Ezekiel J. Krahlin
http://www.gay-bible.org
--------------------------------------------------------------


DEC. 25: NATIONAL BURN THE SHOPPING CARTS OF THE HOMELESS DAY
(NEVER FORGET "BLOODY MARY HALLOWEEN")

(A True Tale From The Castro. Eat your heart out, Armistead!)

© 2002 by Ezekiel J. Krahlin

As a gay activist, (formerly homeless) street denizen, and
(until recently) an advocate for the homeless, my conscience
compels me to speak out. After experiencing among the homeless
crowd, extreme levels of homophobia and maliciousness in
general these past few years, I must conclude: these are not
the kind of homeless I used to know; this is a brand new, and
more dangerous crop of yahoos I've ever seen!

Now, after having suffered (in the Castro) several horrid
murders within two months preceding Halloween (all instigated
by vagrants in queer hangouts and homes)...Halloween itself
turns out to be a gay- bashing spree like you wouldn't believe
(including a roving gang of 20 straights bashing 1 gay). So,
after such events, and ongoing anti-queer hostility in the
streets of San Francisco, here is what I feel deeply inspired
to propose:

I hereby declare December 25th: "National Burn the Shopping
Carts of the Homeless Day".

I mean: who the hell do these scumbags think they are, to
insult, threaten, bash and murder us while accepting our
generosity of food, money, and shelter, among the more liberal
bleeding hearts of our bedraggled community? The homeless have
lost any kind of support by even very liberal queers like
myself.

Why should we give them so much as a single handout, when we
know that once they're back on their feet, they'll be bashing
and thrashing and harassing bigger and better than
before...with hyperactive (unwanted) offspring now in tow! Why
should we allow het society to make us feel guilty for the
survival of all their hetero losers? As if we queers didn't
feed 'em, they'd perish. (After all, those same straights sure
don't like us sexual minorities very much, now do they?) Well,
let's drive the arses over into straight 'hoods, and see
whether or not they let their own kind starve.

Surely, we can find a better way to allow our sexual-minority
poor and houseless to filter through, without having to suffer
an onslaught of barbarians for each one we rescue! We
certainly cannot afford, as a people in desperate political
straits, to take on the housekeeping issues of insane adults
in mental diapers...most of whom are heterosexual and
homophobic, and violent. Most of them don't even seem to come
from around here, but largely from the midwest and south...if
you notice their assorted twangs and accents. California is a
joke to most other states, who gladly ship their losers to a
Greyhound station in San Francisco or Los Angeles, rather than
assume responsibility for the difficult citizens from their
own states.

Some are dangerous ex-convicts, what with the corruption of
California's prison system, which now releases more aggressive
felons onto our streets, homeless and unsupervised. Imagine
that: the Castro under siege by at least a dozen loose
cannons, roaming our queer 'hood all day and night...observing
who comes and goes, types of doors and windows and locks and
visitors on people's homes and apartments...all without any
kind of security for the many residents and tourists who come
to our once-safe neighborhood.

Into whose grubby hand did some bleeding heart cast loose
change or dollars, here in the Castro, today...not realizing
that some of these sidewalk denizens are rapists, bashers, and
killers? To hand them cash or food or anything else (including
a kind word), is to encourage them to entrench themselves into
our gay streets...and is rewarding them for bad (anti-gay)
behavior, along with other psychotic issues. Thus, we queers
are at danger in our own communities, by this vagrant street
culture...and the willingness of "gay-friendly" heteros to
look the other way, as if nothing were happening to harm us
queers.

So now we have homeless adults and youngsters--mostly
heterosexual--who dine at mostly-homophobic free-meal
churches. They are rewarded for agreeing with whatever dogma
is spewed at them, by a free meal, candy, shelter, or other
desireable handouts. They are then sent back on our gay
streets daily, terrorizing our people to stay home after dark,
so the drug dealing can take over, and the mugging, and the
burglarizing, etc. Screaming up and down our streets late at
night is part of their strategy...in using the less
intelligent among the homeless as drones or robots to do their
evil bidding. Unlimited free mercenaries for the enemy...how
clever!

KSFO talk radio is the main propaganda node for the Religious
Reich, in San Francisco. For about a decade now, one Michael
Savage has built up quite a fan club from his hate mongering
against us queers at least several times a day, day in day
out. Homeless people listen to radio a lot, and Mr. Savage is
quite popular. So he has contributed in a big way to the
upsurge we see among the homeless, of anti-gay
attitudes...right here in our Gay Mecca, and even in its
rheumatic heart, "the Castro". But Savage ain't the ONLY
homophobe on that station! How did arses like Rush Limbaugh
and "Dr." Laura wind up in San Francisco? Perhaps (I surmise)
with the generous support and funding of Christian groups here
in our own Bay Area.

Then we have some very intelligent ex-cons moving into our
turf, starting to organize other, dumber and/or vulnerable
homeless, to take over the turf, with a drug/sex ring. Thus,
we see where some folks with roofs over their heads, and money
to burn, are the weakest link to the security of our
neighborhood. (Hmmmm, what can we do about this, without
turning this into sophisticated turf wars? Got me!)

I was homeless; I have homeless friends. And I can assure you,
that most decent homeless do not even reveal their status, are
clean, and well behaved...and do not push around junk-filled
shopping carts. We do not have the capacity (even if we had
the desire) to take into our queer streets and homes every
wet-brained vagrant that should stumble onto our Yellow Brick
Road. You hetero thugs have so many other places that are
exclusively straight...that your intrusion into our world can
only be taken as enemy fire, especially in light of this past
Halloween in the Castro.

I, for one, refuse to feed the Beast that lurks in any one of
these foul-minded hetero pervert street thugs! Don't be kind
to these monsters; they'll only attack you once they're strong
enough. Heck, some attack by night, and beg by day...accepting
those generous handouts from visitors from other parts of the
city, as well as from tourists from a greater distance. They
(tourists) can return to their safe, quiet neighborhoods
whenever they want...but we who live in the Castro are under
siege by hetero skanks that just LOVE all this chaos and
intimidation they're able to stir up!

We concerned community residents and visitors, need to make a
firm statement to the local liquor stores (and any other shops
selling alcohol), to exercise their right to refuse service to
anyone...by denying these creeps the purchase of any alcoholic
beverage. I would take it further: all these shops should
exclusively REFUSE SERVICE to them, period. No food, no
magazines, no deoderant, no nothing. They need to feel very
unwelcome, as part of the strategy to make our streets free of
them, finally. Any shops in the area that do not abide by this
necessary rule (to recreate a safe 'hood), must be interpreted
as hostile towards sexual minorities...for they are
encouraging street thugs to hang out, and continue to
terrorize queers. Surely, no business is so hard up that it
can't afford to survive without the financial trickles from
the houseless.

We need to approach these shops in this matter... and any that
refuse to abide, ought to be boycotted! (SHOW them this
letter, so they won't write you off as a simple crank.) We can
station observers of these stores, who'll snap photos of any
street thug seen purchasing something. This will be the
evidence to bring to the store proprietor in question.

In the long run, we'll need to occupy the hot spots of our
neighborhood...playgrounds, major street corners, and that
long strip of sidewalk in front of Safeway (just east of
Church Street). Social groups, perhaps, or some sort of
tourist/guardians...and we can have queer-oriented street
entertainment: musicians, crafts, etc. (Great boost to
tourism: the only queer neighborhood in the US with actual
queer--not hetero--live street entertainment.) At night, we
can have volunteers patrol the streets for safety, and to keep
things quiet...as noise pollution is way out of hand after
dark, along Market Street here in the Castro.

We also need to show our appreciation to the police who are
risking their lives in order to protect us, and make our
neighborhood safe once more. I, for one, applaud the presence
and devoted service of our local beat cops, Officer Warner and
Sergeant Limbert (who recently moved into the Castro, as a
clear demonstration of solidarity with our community). And
they are quite correct when they say that the community needs
to do more, as the cops cannot on their own, right all wrongs.
Peer pressure as displayed by residents and regular visitors
will go a long way towards turning the tables. In a very real
sense, we must all be narcs against hard drug abuse, in order
to scare away the bogeymen who care not one whit, for our
neighborhood or civil rights.

Never forget "Bloody Mary Halloween", my name for the
horrendous gay bashings and attacks that occurred during our
high holy celebration, here in the Castro, this past Oct. 31.
We must be armed and ready by Halloween next year, to defend
ourselves from another bloodbath, that may possibly prove much
worse, considering the rise of anti-gay hatred across our
country, states, and cities.

We certainly need to get to know each other a lot better, and
work very rapidly at removing our own walls of bigotry within
our Queer Family: racism, classism, misogyny, etc., etc. Else
there won't be enough of us united to this Common & Noble
Cause.

Sincerely,

Ezekiel J. Krahlin
Sheriff of Castro Street

---
There are no marriages in heaven,
and no queers in hell. Go figure.
http://www.gay-bible.org

==============================
ADDENDUM:

Re: Dec. 25: "National Burn the Shopping Carts of the Homeless
Day"

Sharing now, a rebuttal to the manager of another Queernet
list (all true identities are not revealed) ...regarding
her/his censorship of my "burn a homeless shopping cart for
Xmas" manifesto:

---begin missive:

On Mon, 9 Dec 2002 a Queernet list manager emoted:

<< When Ezekiel posts something which seems relatively free of
violence and personal attack, I forward it through to
everyone. >>

Your definition of "violence" is any sort of aggressive
reaction to threats of violence or actual violence, including
non-physical (read "non-violent").

So excuuuuse me for being considerably upset over the massacre
that happened against queers on Halloween night, here in the
Castro. Goddess forbid I should ALSO mention that the 20
breeder-thugs who bashed one, lone gay person, were all
African-Amerikan, and the victim was caucasian! Guess I'll be
accused for "racism" now, too...but if I am, what the heck do
you call the actions of those 20 hetverts (of kolor)?

I am disgusted at how many in our community-- including this
list sponsored by Queernet--act as if this bloody night were
"okay" and "acceptable". For example, when a certain other
member here, posted back to me on this matter, he said:

"As for bloody Halloween, that goes on every year and not just
in the gay community."...

when in fact, it was the single most violent attack upon a
queer gathering, to date, here in our Yoonighted Stayts...and
perhaps anywhere in the entire "free world," for that matter.
And where were we attacked? In no place less than what remains
the spiritual heart of the queer movement, worldwide. We were
ATTACKED IN OUR SACRED SPACES.

So this IS a big deal, a VERY big deal...and I won't shut up
about it, and point a finger at ANYONE attempting to sweep
this horrid event under the carpet. FOR SHAME for any Queer to
participate in covering up the ugly bashings done upon our own
sisters and brothers of the rainbow.

This is why I am outraged, and I allow my anger to come
through these important messages, in order to raise the
consciousness of our queer family.

Those who actually want to READ my manifesto re. burning
shopping carts, can do so here:

www.gay-bible.org/write/3_bloody-mary.htm

<< When it is clearly violent (e.g., a recent essay he
submitted to this list titled "December 25th - National Burn
the Shopping Carts of the Homeless Day"), >>

Hold on a minute: burning an object (not a person or other
living creature) does not a violent act make. You're so ready
to defend the same people who bash and murder us queers in our
own 'hood? Surely, this issue of the homeless has become such
a sacred cow, that none dare claim they could do any wrong!
What a convenient opportunity for organized 'phobes (such as
churches and other anti-gay zealot groups), to aggravate the
homeless to harass us further.

So let's see: burning shopping carts filled with junk versus
beating queers to a bloody pulp including murder. Hmmm, now if
you had to define one or the other as violent--but not
both--which would it be? I believe burning shopping carts in
queer 'hoods will serve as a warning, and scare these street
thugs off our turf...without us having to bash directly back
(thus being violent, like our enemies).

Yet YOU accuse me of violence, for suggesting some very real
solutions to getting a handle on this gay-bashing gone
rampant. What *I* am suggesting is venting our outrage
NONVIOLENTLY but EFFECTIVELY ENOUGH so as to nip all this
burgeoning anti-gay hatred among street folks. To show at
least SOME form of non-acquiescence to terror that is
aggressive, is the only way to get these dipshits to back off!

Nothing less than burning shopping carts will work. Otherwise,
we MUST be really violent in order to defend ourselves from
the increasing mob-slaughters that are due to occur (if we
don't take an effective stand NOW...way before anything gets
to court, if ever).

<< I apologize xxxxxxxxxx, if a personal attack to you came
through to everyone. >>

It didn't. I merely posted back to him, in private. It is
xxxxxxxxxx who reposted one of his replies to me, to your
list. He obviously inserted the list address in the CC header,
to deceive everyone. No suprise there! It will take an
experience hacker to truly determine whether or not the CC was
faked.

So for anyone to accuse me of posting private mail to a list,
is spreading gossip. In fact, that's defamation of character:
slander. Same goes for publicly declaring me as
"violent"...and this is not the first time you've done so,
either. You're just digging your own grave of demise; don't
let me stop you!

Thank you for putting your nasty proclamations on the public
record. Usenet never lies.

<< I apologize to anyone on the receiving end of Ezekiel's
vitriol, and sympathize too.  I've endured quite a bit myself
(and get to read him regularly). >>

Oh you poor, suffering homonculus! Censor most of the
important findings I have to say, and charging me with
promoting violence. This is all on record BTW, for the time
shall soon come for our own queer version of the Nuremberg
Trials. Not only will the obvious homophobes be tried and
sentenced: so will those who turn out to be traitors to our
cause, in aiding and abetting the enemy, thus creating more
havoc, terror, bashings and deaths.

The attempt by you, the list manager, and some others in this
list, to sabotage my words (and even Internet access
sometimes), regarding the horror that was Halloween in the
Castro 2002...is but another fine example of how you assuage
and assist the enemy. There's only one thing I'm curious
about:

How much do your brownshirt bosses reward you?

Oh, I DO have another question, come to think of it:

Are you ready for "Night of the Long Knives, Part II"? I hope
so, dears, because just as Hitler turned on his own gay
officers (and their friends and families), Prez-Dubya will
soon do same to all those (few) queers he put in office, along
with all activists and friends of queer liberation.

Fasten your seatbelts, it's gonna be a BUMPY holiday ride.

Sincerely,

Zeke Krahlin (Nov. 10, 2002)


---
"Many are called, but few are chosen.
Step right up for your lederhosen."
   - Big Gay Brother     [ gay-bible.org ]

--- end of missive

---finis