Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyJune 21st, 2016
Cory James Connell, 21 years old
Cory, a graduate of Edgewater High School, was studying sports journalism and broadcasting at Valencia College in Orlando and working at a Publix supermarket. He wound up being one of seven Valencia students to die that night. He was at Pulse with his girlfriend and another friend, Jerald Arthur Wright. All three were shot that night. Jerald also died, and Cory’s girlfriend was seriously wounded.
Cory’s brother explained that his girlfriend convinced him to go to Pulse so she could teach him how to dance. Cory was more of a “gym junkie” than a dancer, his brother said. Cory went to Pulse because it was Latin Night and his girlfriend is Columbian.
Cory was a favorite of his teachers:
Shelley Klein, a science teacher at Lee Middle School, said she remembered Connell clearly, even years after he’d finished there. “I’ve taught almost 1,700 kids at Lee. He was so special,” Klein wrote. “All of his teachers at Lee adored him. We describe him as our all-time favorite.”
Nancy Robbinson, a member of the Orange County School Board, said she would often see Connell at Publix and, before then, at a local CVS where he used to work. “Every time I saw him, he greeted me with a warm, inviting smile and a cheery, ‘Hey, Mrs. Robbinson,’ and sometimes I was even blessed to get a hug,” she wrote. “I just saw him at Publix a week ago and got one of those great hugs.
Jerald Arthur Wright, 31 years old
Jerry worked at Walt Disney World who, as a Spanish-speaker whose family was from Colombia, was particularly adept at welcoming visitors from Latin America. Disney became a second family for him:
“It’s hard to understand, but the people with you work with at Disney, they are an amazing family,” said Scott Dickison, who left Disney last July to take a job with ION Network in Clearwater. “Jerry was a great guy to work with. He was quiet but really wonderful with all the guests. He always had a smile on his face.”
Jerry went to Pulse for Latin Night with Cory James Connell and Cory’s girlfriend to help celebrate Cory’s birthday. Although Jerry was straight, he enjoyed Pulse’s casual vibe:
“It’s a great atmosphere,” said Jessica Weyl, 23, a friend who is straight and goes to Pulse occasionally. “People aren’t judgmental. People aren’t feeling the need necessarily to impress each other.”
“At Pulse it’s just calm, cool and collected,” Ms. Weyl added. “No one felt pressure to be anyone they weren’t. I’m straight and I love going there. My brother is gay and he loves going there.”
…Ms. Weyl had just finished training for a job in Tomorrowland when she met Mr. Wright.
“He took me under his wing and kind of showed me everything,” she said. She turned to him for questions about Disney policies, and especially when she encountered a guest who spoke Spanish.
Jerry attended Westminster Christian School and Florida International University in Miami.
Latest Posts
Featured Reports
In this original BTB Investigation, we unveil the tragic story of Kirk Murphy, a four-year-old boy who was treated for “cross-gender disturbance” in 1970 by a young grad student by the name of George Rekers. This story is a stark reminder that there are severe and damaging consequences when therapists try to ensure that boys will be boys.
When we first reported on three American anti-gay activists traveling to Kampala for a three-day conference, we had no idea that it would be the first report of a long string of events leading to a proposal to institute the death penalty for LGBT people. But that is exactly what happened. In this report, we review our collection of more than 500 posts to tell the story of one nation’s embrace of hatred toward gay people. This report will be updated continuously as events continue to unfold. Check here for the latest updates.
In 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote that “[Paul] Cameron’s ‘science’ echoes Nazi Germany.” What the SPLC didn”t know was Cameron doesn’t just “echo” Nazi Germany. He quoted extensively from one of the Final Solution’s architects. This puts his fascination with quarantines, mandatory tattoos, and extermination being a “plausible idea” in a whole new and deeply disturbing light.
On February 10, I attended an all-day “Love Won Out” ex-gay conference in Phoenix, put on by Focus on the Family and Exodus International. In this series of reports, I talk about what I learned there: the people who go to these conferences, the things that they hear, and what this all means for them, their families and for the rest of us.
Prologue: Why I Went To “Love Won Out”
Part 1: What’s Love Got To Do With It?
Part 2: Parents Struggle With “No Exceptions”
Part 3: A Whole New Dialect
Part 4: It Depends On How The Meaning of the Word "Change" Changes
Part 5: A Candid Explanation For "Change"
At last, the truth can now be told.
Using the same research methods employed by most anti-gay political pressure groups, we examine the statistics and the case studies that dispel many of the myths about heterosexuality. Download your copy today!
And don‘t miss our companion report, How To Write An Anti-Gay Tract In Fifteen Easy Steps.
Anti-gay activists often charge that gay men and women pose a threat to children. In this report, we explore the supposed connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse, the conclusions reached by the most knowledgeable professionals in the field, and how anti-gay activists continue to ignore their findings. This has tremendous consequences, not just for gay men and women, but more importantly for the safety of all our children.
Anti-gay activists often cite the “Dutch Study” to claim that gay unions last only about 1½ years and that the these men have an average of eight additional partners per year outside of their steady relationship. In this report, we will take you step by step into the study to see whether the claims are true.
Tony Perkins’ Family Research Council submitted an Amicus Brief to the Maryland Court of Appeals as that court prepared to consider the issue of gay marriage. We examine just one small section of that brief to reveal the junk science and fraudulent claims of the Family “Research” Council.
The FBI’s annual Hate Crime Statistics aren’t as complete as they ought to be, and their report for 2004 was no exception. In fact, their most recent report has quite a few glaring holes. Holes big enough for Daniel Fetty to fall through.
“Google” is a trademark of Google Inc.
© Box Turtle Bulletin. All Rights Reserved.
Posts 
Posts via daily email:
There are no comments for this post.
Leave A Comment