Post-mortem

Anyone remember the story of Andrew Anthos' death?

A 72-year old activist in Detroit who was beaten in what preliminarily appeared to be a homophobic attack, his subsequent death increased political support for including GLBT protections in federal hate crime legislation.

Well, the big story in gay news outlets today is that the relevant medical examiner has ruled that Anthos' death was unrelated to any alleged attack.

But, as the Detroit Free Press asks, "Does it matter how he died?" Does anyone really doubt that gay people sometimes endure harassment or physical violence because they are gay? There are plenty of potential poster children for LGBT hate crimes. Let's move on.