Friday, 22 October 2010

Terrible Sadness

It began in February of this year, not three hours drive from our home. The base commander of an armed forces base on the north side of Lake Ontario had been charged with some pretty serious crimes, including two murders. Thanks to a confession and swift trial (mercifully for the families of the two victims and the more sensitive members of the population), this man is now living in solitary confinement and probably will for the rest of his life. 

Sadly, the image ingrained for public consumption is the criminal’s self-portrait; in bra and panties stolen from some victim. For that reason, in public memory he will always be a crossdresser who murdered innocent women. We can connect the dots to understand that this man is not the only one who has been put into solitary confinement as a result of his perverse crimes. 

No amount of calm, rational explanation will counter the visceral response I and others have to that image. I do not even have safety in my own mind now. How I hate this monster whose name I refuse to remember. I will not give a name to my pain, even this one.



In Memoriam:  Marie-France Comeau & Jessica Elizabeth Lloyd


link to cbc coverage
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4 comments:

  1. Caroline22 October 2010 at 19:51

    Yet another nasty example of the media poisoning the waters for us.

    Caroline xxx

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  2. Melissa22 October 2010 at 20:51

    I saw that on the Google News page this morning, and my heart sank. First for his poor victims, then for all of us. I can envision all of the ignorant trans/phobic haters now attempting to lump us all together with that sickening monster. It won't make any difference that he is a twisted psychopath, and that cross dressers and transsexuals are categorically some of the most peaceful non-violent people on this planet. In fact, some of the reader comments were already leaning in that direction.

    Melissa XX

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  3. Calie22 October 2010 at 22:04

    It must be understood that, there are perverts, criminals, etc., in every walk of life, and that includes a group that could be considered "transgender".

    But, is someone like this transgender? I often refuse to believe that those who have sexual fetishes involving women's underwear are transgender.

    Nevertheless, the media (difficult for me to say because I am a member of the club), groups us all under the same umbrella and the result can be the perception that we are all pervs.

    Calie xxx

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  4. Sally Bibrary23 October 2010 at 09:34

    I have to admit that I cringed over all the attention paid to his photos. It got to the point where they seemed to become more of an issue for the media than the fact that he'd violently beated and murdered so many people. Sadly, it's just another typical example of shock value being promoted over substance.

    The only saving grace (assuming there is one), is that all his photos are clearly of any angry, disturbed man wearing his victim's clothes as some kind of final punishment. At no time does he look like he's expressing his femininity or enjoying himself at all. Sadly, most people won't make that distinction, but I've been more than happy to make it for anybody who's commented on the photos to me.

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