[Wolfsong]

Women pinned against a car, taunted and beaten by 10 men, for being gay in a westside Chicago neighborhood.


You know I feel pretty free walking around here. We have 1 large predominantly gay neighborhood with another growing (Boystown & Andersonville) quickly. We have a Pride that drew more than 1 million people this year. Andi and I live in the Bridgeport neighborhood. While I wouldn't term this as gay friendly nobody bothers us or treats us badly. We're just one of the neighbors.

Then something like this happens and it jerks me back into reality.

Funny, Illinois just passed concealed carry (it is lawful to carry a gun(s) in public on your person) this week. Andi and I talked about it a lot and pretty much had decided that we didn't need these permits. They are $150 each and really that's $300 that we didn't need to spend. I've lived here all my life and never needed to carry a gun around before so why would I now just because it's legal? I had just said last night that anything that might happen to cause us to need to carry a gun was pretty bad and if it got to that point nobody would be looking at permits anyway. Should we be re-thinking this? I've yapped long and hard about not buying a gun out of fear......and now I'm talking about carrying one for that very reason. It's just wrong.

This really isn't about carrying or not carrying guns anyway (although it would have likely changed the outcome of this interaction). This is about two of us that got beat up simply for existing. This is about the bravery of one woman stepping between real danger and her lover, this is about the anguish of not being able to protect your loved one, this is about hate and fear and frustration. We as a community ought to be able to do something about this. Many of us are much stronger than 2 alone on the street surrounded by angry men. Aren't we?