I’m sure the Warren County police department is just laughing at this and probably make fun of the gentleman behind his back.

It is a very uneducated, backwoods and racist area and if a gay man comes up missing or dead? Well…that’s just one less fag to have to worry about.

I’m sorry. I know that sounds cruel and that I may seem heartless but those of us that live in the mountainous regions of this area know good and well that consequences can arrise if we live too freely or make our relationships known to the public. Live behind those closed blinds kiddies!

You can’t sue the county. Nobody will listen to you and the “good old boys” will make sure you stop the suit. The KKK is still around. You just don’t mess with these people. That’s why most gay men leave the area for larger cities. Fortunately, the area I live in is not bad and I’ve never had any altercations.

I have met STRICT resistence in health care though. Tennessee does NOT recognize domestic partners and if you are not your partner’s power of attorney, you WILL be told you have no rights and no reason to be there. I would highly recommend that any same sex partners immediately obtain a durable power of attorney for medical care for both parterns to safe guard yourself.

You may not think you really need that but trust me. Should the emergency arrise and your partner is non-responsive and can’t make decisions? Should you need to ask questions? You will get the door slammed in your face and some off color remarks made. And this is not in the past, this was two days ago which was a real chin dropper to me as I thought this town was above that.

There is still phobia. Immediately upon finding out my partner was gay, an HIV test was ordered WITHOUT his consent. So there is still this hatred bubbling under the smiley surface in Tennessee. So like my Mama says, “Don’t get TOO comfortable with yourselves!”

If these guys are cutting power lines and phone lines – WATCH OUT! It may be a simple prank for now but it can escalate without warning. It’s legal to carry a gun in Tennessee. He needs to get one!

The FBI has informed me that it would otherwise investigate the crimes but for the unfortunate fact that sexual orientation is not a protected characteristic under the federal hate crimes statute.

There are many such crimes, both non-violent and violent, that were/are under-investigated, and the perpetrators end up getting away with it. If it was a hate-crime because of religion or race, the FBI wouldn’t have their hands tied.

I find this logic ridiculous, first of all, because we already consider the motive in many cases. Murder, for example, has many different charges and punishments (first degree, second degree, manslaughter, etc.) specifically taking motive and intent into consideration.

But another issue with hate crimes is dealing with the motivation to show hate and cause fear that amplifies a lesser crime into something much bigger. Imagine if vandals had written “Go Predators!” across this man’s house nine times. He’d be spending a lot of money on cleanup and he’d be grousing about ‘those damn kids,’ but he wouldn’t be living in fear of his life, too afraid to open a window or leave the yard. That’s what hate crime legislation is about.