Congress, Fox News, Politics, Ryan Skipper
Which local papers have reported online on the upcoming vigil for hate crime victim Ryan Skipper?
- Lakeland Ledger: No.
- Winter Haven News Chief: No.
Fortunately, most people in the county probably read the Orlando Sentinel:
Equality Florida is planning a day of statewide vigils, including one in Polk County, to draw attention to hate crimes.
The vigils are in response to the death of Ryan Keith Skipper, a 25-year-old Polk County man stabbed to death March 14. His body was dumped alongside a road…
Skipper was gay, according to people who knew him, the Sheriff’s Office said. A witness claimed Brown said Skipper had made advances toward him, and that was the reason for the killing, a sheriff’s spokeswoman said.
Authorities have labeled it a hate crime.
Equality Florida, an advocacy organization, is seeking volunteers to assist or hold a vigil Saturday. If interested, contact Russell Patterson at russ@eq fl.org or 1-813-849-3919.
Topics: Congress, Fox News, Politics, Ryan Skipper
Perhaps, we should ask Equality Florida WHY the vigils have not been reported by The Lakeland Ledger, The Tampa Tribune, or the other news outlets?
In defense of The Lakeland Ledger -Since the murder was reported on March 14th they have provided on-going coverage. On March 16th they reported Ryan’s murder as a “hate crime,” and on March 29th Ryan’s life and murder was the lead article, taking center stage on the front page.
Our leading state civil rights group, Equality Florida, was mute on the subject until April 2nd – over two weeks! I’m still shaking my head in disbelief and wondering why it took so long. (Coincidentally, the announcement came within 24 hours of my publicly criticizing them on a number of mailing lists)
And now, you and others are asking why the news outlets aren’t reporting the vigils. Again, we should ask Equality Florida.
Yesterday, I sent an email to Tampa Tribune reporter, Billy Townsend. It read, “Are the Lakeland Ledger & Tampa Tribune ignoring reports that Equality
Florida will be holding vigils in response to the brutal murder of 25
year old Polk County resident, Ryan Keith Skipper?” I then provided dates and locations for the vigils.
Townsend’s response arrived in my Inbox first thing this morning, and it reads, “It’s hard to ignore something I’ve heard nothing about until now. But I appreciate the notice.”
Equality Florida has been very vocal over the firing of Largo City Manager, Steve Stanton. Their Executive Director, Nadine Smith was even arrested for handing out literature at a City Council meeting. Yet, so little has been done for Ryan, and the grieving gay community in Polk County. And while I’m grateful that Equality Florida is organizing vigils for Saturday, the fact that it took them so very long leads one to believe it was just an after thought.
Just to give a little perspective on this, as I was one of the people who contacted Equality Florida, the organization acted very swiftly as soon as they actually began receiving requests from Ryan’s friends and family *to* act. My experience with Equality Florida has been that they have been extremely considerate of the wishes of Ryan’s family and close friends, and kept those wishes in the forefront of anything they do around this issue. How *could* they act before they actually received requests from those closest to Ryan? How could any organization responsibly issue a public statement about a victim of hate crime without having at least a preliminary conversation with those closest to the victim? What the previous poster characterizes as “muteness” can much more accurately be thought of in terms of deference to and respect for the wishes of Ryan’s family and close friends, who had only just began to formulate a collective response to Ryan’s murder at the two-week mark mentioned by the previous poster. Exactly how fast does she think people should be able to organize a large public action when they are dealing with intense grief and loss? Attacking the organization that has done the most to date to help Ryan’s family and close friends transform devastating personal loss into a galvanizing historical moment for many of us in the LGBT community of Polk County (and indeed, Florida) is pointlessly divisive and diverts much-needed energy from the critical work at hand.
Being as I was also one of the people who contacted Equality Florida and took part in the initial meeting (as well as every subsequent meeting) with them along with Monica, I have to agree with her assessment – Equality Florida has been EXTREMELY respectful of the wishes of Ryan’s family. EQ FL was in contact with Ryan’s family less than one week after the murder, however, EQ FL met with Ryan’s family on THE FAMILY’S timetable – not someone else’s. Everything that Equality Florida has done has been the request of Ryan’s family and friends, and they have done nothing they were asked not to do. I want to make clear that **a press release about the vigils was sent out by Equality Florida to ALL local media outlets.** The Ledger and The News Chief may still very well do a story on the vigil. As far as the Tampa Tribune, EQ FL has been in contact with the Trib – I cannot speak for why the reporter mentioned, Billy Townsend, did not know, but the most probable answer is that the story wasn’t referred to him. Considering that Polk County isn’t very gay-friendly and there is the possibility of protesters showing up, I’m not too sorry that The Ledger and News Chief have not done stories on the vigil prior to its occurrence – the vigil isn’t a protest, and I don’t think Ryan’s family should have to deal with people like Fred Phelps and his ilk at a positive celebration of his life.
Equality Florida doesn’t deserve this criticism. They have been very good to Ryan’s family, and I can tell you that the vigils wouldn’t be anything approaching the scale they are if they had not gotten involved. They have done more than any other organization to help Ryan’s family, and they have been totally respectful of their wishes. That letter that Equality Florida sent out on April 2nd? That was the day after the first meeting with them. They didn’t act until Ryan’s family said they should. Please, find out what the situation really is before blaming anything on anyone. Just because someone else thinks things didn’t happen fast enough doesn’t mean that they didn’t happen fast enough for his family – they met with Equality Florida as soon as they were emotionally able to, and EQFL respected that. Things are going as Ryan’s family wishes them to. It was THEIR son and brother who died, and they have the right to direct what is going on and to do things at their own pace. They shouldn’t have to work on someone else’s timetable.
I want to say to anyone who is attending a vigil – please remember, THESE VIGILS ARE NOT AN OCCASION TO PROTEST. Ryan’s family (who are wonderful and very supportive of gay rights, by the way) has been very clear that they do NOT want a circus-like atmosphere at the vigil. This is a somber occasion, a celebration of his life, and it is to be a positive and healing event. If you plan to attend, I implore you to please respect the tone of the event, and respect his family’s wishes. There will be plenty of other occasions in the future to protest – this is not one of them.
My deepest condolences to the family and friends. I did not know Ryan but I attended a vigil in Tampa and still find myself thinking about him and the love he inspired. He looks a lot like an old friend from high school and it makes me feel vulnerable and afraid to know how he died. But the vigil reminded me that we are not alone, that we are stronger together.