The 7 July, 2009 issue of the Bangor Daily News carried a front page article about the 25th anniversary of the Charlie Howard killing to pursue their own editorial agenda. For those unfamiliar with the tragic tale of Howard, he was attacked and killed in Bangor, Maine by three teenagers in Bangor, Maine. The teenagers kicked Howard and threw him over the railing of State Street bridge and into the Kenduskeag Stream where he drowned. The three teenagers identified as Daniel Ness, Shawn Mabry and Francis Mabry apparently attacked Howard due to the fact that he was openly gay.
The Bangor Daily News used this sad anniversary to make social comment and editorial on their front page. The article contained the following paragraph:
“Politicians, activists and clergy contacted for this article were reluctant to link Howard’s legacy - whatever it may be - to same-sex marriage. But the current wrangling over the issue, some said, shows how far the state has come in the past 25 years and how far it still has to go toward equality:”
Judy Harrison, the reporter on this article, was obviously trying to use this article on Howard’s death to frame an issue that she wanted to address. She is looking to use the anniversary of the Howard death to equate those that oppose the same-sex marriage law with the criminals that committed this crime. That the failure to support all of the gay rights legislation is one step away from a hate crime.
Howard’s death which was an obviously horrendous event has absolutely nothing to do with the same-sex marriage issue. The tragedy of the event was that three teenagers were so out of control that they took actions that killed a man. The fact that they did this because he was gay should have little bearing on our disgust over their actions. If they had done this to a Jew, a Muslim, a member of a rival gang or some crazy member of the KKK, would their actions have been any more or less horrible? If they had not killed Howard for being gay, they would probably of committed some horrendous act on some other poor soul for upsetting them in some way.
The Bangor Daily News should stick to fact reporting on their front page stories and save this type of social framing to their editorial page. This anniversary is a front page story as this story shook the community 25 years ago. But that tragic event had little or nothing to do with the political debate taking place in the state today.
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