Sean Kennedy’s Killer May Get Early Parole
January 6, 2009
On May 16, 2007, Elke Kennedy got a call that’s every mother’s worst nightmare: her son was in critical condition at the hospital.
Elke and her Greenville, South Carolina community soon came to realize that her openly gay son, Sean, was brutally and fatally beaten in what would be considered a hate crime in 31 states and the District of Columbia, but not in South Carolina.
Now, less than two years after his tragic death, Elke was made aware that he son’s killer, Stephen Andrew Moller, may be getting early parole this February.
Sean Kennedy
Through the foundation she started in her son’s name, Sean’s Last Wish, Elke is calling on the community for help:
The parole board is currently conducting an investigation to decide whether to allow him to have a parole hearing, so it is critical that they hear from you that Stephen Andrew Moller violently murdered Sean Kennedy and should serve the remainder of his sentence!
GLAAD's Cindi Creager, Director of National News, with Elke Kennedy
This fall, glaadBLOG caught up with Elke as part of GLAAD’s “Share Your Story” series. Elke has spent the time since her son’s tragic death as a community advocate, working toward LGBT-inclusive hate crimes legislation.
Elke has also contributed a chapter, “What I know now about losing a son” for Crisis, a book edited by Mitchell Gold. (Last year, GLAAD partnered with Gold to urge people to share their stories with friends and family during the holiday season.)
Elke has done just that–shared her story with friends, family, and the nation. She’s worked with GLAAD to help share her story with local and national media. As Elke said:
Each story I hear, each person I talk to assures me that I am doing what I need to be doing.
Elke’s story of dedicating her life to working for change for LGBT people, in her son’s memory, is an inspiration. GLAAD invited Elke to attend the 19th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in both New York and Los Angeles as an honored guest. In his speech to attendees GLAAD President, Neil Giuliano, made special mention of Sean Kennedy’s story and of Elke Kennedy’s work supporting LGBT people.
free video player & video platform - interactive video, online video solution: video player, video editor - kaltura
wordpress video - wordpress plugin for integrated video on video blogs, and video tools
To take part in Elke’s letter writing campaign, please click here.
Share Your Stories From the Holiday Table
January 6, 2009
Last year, GLAAD partnered with Mitchell Gold, editor of the anthology Crisis, to urge folks to share their stories with friends and family during the holiday season.
That’s exactly what my family did this year. Our big annual holiday dinner included the usual grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, along with three of us openly gay grandchildren.
CRISIS examines the overwhelming effects of prejudice and discrimination on the lives of gay youth.
In preparation for our big meal, my mom added one task to her list of things to do – to call everyone coming over for dinner and let them know we were having two special guests: my brother and my cousin’s partners. To my mom’s surprise, everyone was just fine with the inclusion of our gay family members. I wasn’t too surprised, though. I work for GLAAD, and every day I get to see examples demonstrating that our work is making a difference in eliminating homophobia.
As part of being GLAAD’s Central Region Media Field Strategist, I work to ensure media coverage of our community in the region (which includes my family’s home base, Ohio) is fair, accurate, and inclusive. Going into the holiday season, I knew that my extended family has been seeing more and more images of gay and transgender people in the media regularly, and that these positive portrayals are inevitably playing a role in changing their hearts and minds.
My grandma’s reaction to the news that two new members of the family would be joining our holiday meal was amazing. I know how important the media advocacy work we do here at GLAAD is, but it hit home for me as I watched my grandmother simply smile and say, “That’s great. You know this guy on one of my soaps, he’s gay. I love all my grandchildren, this doesn’t change anything.”
The actors who play Luke and Noah on As the World Turns received a GLAAD Media Award this year.
Towards the end of 2008, GLAAD commissioned a poll from Harris Interactive, the results of which told us that if someone knows a gay person, they are more likely to favor legal protections for our community. In fact, 19% of survey respondents reported that their feelings toward gay and lesbian people have become more favorable over the past five years. The number one factor for this change of heart was knowing someone who is gay or lesbian.
I firmly believe that the fact that my brother, my cousin, and I have all come out to our family, coupled with the fact that my family regularly sees fair and accurate media coverage of our community has made all the difference.
Not only have we built up a great group of allies in our extended family, but we’ve paved the way for any future family members who may be gay. They will be comforted to know that Grandma loves Luke and Noah on As the World Turns, and that openly gay folks are welcomed to our family’s holiday meal table every year.
Please feel free to share your story from the holidays in the comments section below.
Did You Grow Up Gay in America? We Have a Book For You!
September 12, 2008
CRISIS: 40 Stories Revelaing the Personal, Social, and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing Up Gay in America is a new book edited by openly gay entrepreneur Mitchell Gold with help from his sister-in-law Mandy Drucker.
Gold asked forty gay Americans to share their very personal answers to difficult questions like, “What is it like to be called an abomination by your religious leaders?” and “How do you feel about lying to everyone about whom you love?”
A wide swath of the gay community answered these questions, commenting on religion, family, schools, workplace and sin. Contributors varied far and wide, ranging from GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano, MTV Entertainment President Brian Graden, Dan Karslake, director of the award-winning documentary For The Bible Tells Me So, Democratic Congressman Barney Frank, Trevor Project Executive Director Charles Robbins, Oprah Winfrey’s design guru Nate Berkus, and many more. Tennis legend Martina Navratilova provided the Forward to the collection of essays.
You can purchase the book by clicking here, or if you are in New York, Washington, D.C., or Los Angeles, you can attend a very special Launch Party. All are welcome, but RSVPs are essential.
New York City Launch
Monday, September 15
6pm-9pm
Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Signature Store
One Kenmare Square
210 Lafayette Street (Between Spring and Broome)
RSVP to: rsvpnyc@mgbwhome.com
Washington, DC Launch
Wednesday, September 17
6pm-9pm
Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Signature Store
1526 14th Street, NW (at 14th and Church)
RSVP to: rsvpdc@mgbwhome.com
Los Angeles Launch
Tuesday, September 23
6pm-9pm
Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Signature Store
7960 West 3rd Street
RSVP to: rsvpla@mgbwhome.com
