People & Their Pets
The birds are chirping
page 25
Crape Myrtle Festival
Fundraising event showcases Kimberly Locke
page 25
SC Black Pride
Draws thousands
page 14
Noted. Notable . Noteworthy. LGBT News & Views
Volume 22 . Number 05 www.q-notes.com July 14.2007
Multiple vigils for Sean Kennedy held across S.C.
Columbia Mayor Bob Coble speaks
at vigil; victim’s mother starts
foundation to fight hate crimes
by Mark Smith
The murder of 20-year-old Sean Keimedy
has resonated across the Palmetto state,
prompting multiple vigils to honor his brief life.
To date three vigils have been held:
Greenville (June 3), Myrde Beach (June 6) and
Columbia (July 1). At press time a fourth was
planned for Charleston on July 10.
In Greenville, Kennedy’s mother Elke
Kennedy-Parker stood before a crowd of 300
in downtown, recalling the day her son, Sean,
told her he was gay.
“He said,‘Mom, if you don’t want to love
me anymore, I will understand. I told him that
there is nothing that he could ever do for me
to stop loving him.”
Sean Kennedy’s friends, family and sup
porters packed the center city plaza for the
candlelight vigil.
Leaders from the religious community
called for peace and an end to violence.
Donna Stroud, pastor of the Metropolitan
Community Church of the Upstate offered a
prayer for Keimedy’s friends and family, as
well as for Stephen Andrew Moller —
Kennedy’s accused killer.
“No one is safe from hatred until everyone
is equally valued as a human being and equal
ly protected under the lawj’ said Stroud.
A few people in the crowd wept as
Kennedy-Parker read a poem, “Sean’s Last
Wish,” written by a friend.
Sean, beautiful young man
Your demise has touched our hearts
There must have been a wondrous plan
For God chose you to play the part
This sad and bitter world
Is due a wake-up call
We saw the snarling jaws of hate
And you dear, took the fall
Your spirit all encompassing
Cries out for all to know
We will join hands, your song to sing
And vow to never let this go
We must cast light on your purpose
Lest it all have been in vain
Today you have our promise
From you, this world has much to gain
I see pure determination
Elke Kennedy-Parker, mother of slain 20-year-old Sean Kennedy, pays hom
age to her son during a candlelight vigil held in his memory.
There in your Mother’s eyes
Your last wish mil know realization
Elizabeth Edwards declares her support
for gay marriage
Wife of former N.C. Senator turned
presidential candidate ‘completely
comfortable with gay marriage’
Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Demoaatic pres
idential hopeful and former
N.C. Senatorjohn Edwards,
kicked off San Francisco’s
annual gay Pride parade by
splitting with her husband
over support for legalized gay
marriage.
“I don’t know why
someone else’s marriage has
anything to do with me,”
Mrs. Edwards said at a news
conference before the
parade started. “I’m com
pletely comfortable with gay
marriage.”
She made the remark
almost offhandedly in
answering a question from
‘It seems to me we’re mak
ing issues of things that
honestly ... don’t matter.’
— Elizabeth Edwards
reporters after she dehvered a standard cam
paign stump speech during a breakfast hosted
by die Alice B. Toklas Lesbian Gay Bisexual
Transgender Democratic Club, an influential
San Francisco political organization.
California’s presidential primary
is Feb. 5, one of the earliest con
tests in the nation.
She conceded her support
puts her at odds with her hus
band, a former Senator from
North Carolina who has said
that he supports civil unions
among gay couples — but not
same-sex marriages.
“John has been pretty clear
about it, that he is very conflict
ed,” she said. “He has a deeply
held belief against any form of
discrimination, but that’s up •
against his being raised in the
1950s in a rural southern town.”
To date, no serious presiden
tial candidate from either major political
party has publicly supported gay marriage,
including John Edwards. San Francisco area
politicians and activists hailed Elizabeth
Edwards’ appearance as another step for gay
civil rights.
I think honestly he’s on a road that a lot of
people in this country are on They’re
struggling with this. Most of the gay and les
bian people I know... have seen their friends
and family walking down that same road.
“It’s frustrating, I knowr she added, “but
it’s a long distance from where we are now to
the pews of a Southern Baptist church. So,
John’s been as honest as he can about that.”
Edwards said she has come to the conclu
sion that the marriage of another couple
“makes no difference to me,” just as it would
make no difference in her opinion of a neigh
bor if he painted his house a different color.
“If he’s pleasant to-me on the street, if his
see she’s on 21
On this you can rely
During the Greenville vigil, Stroud pointed
out Kennedy’s commitment to equality for all
people. “Even in death, he saved lives by
donating his organs,” said Stroud. “Because of
his choice, the lives of four people he never
knew have been saved.”
Just three days later another crowd came to
pay homage to fennedy’s memory. Kennedy-
Parker was once again in attendance.
“His death is an example of what hate can
do,” Kennedy-Parker told the group gathered
for the candlelight vigil at The Center Project
in Myrtie Beach. “We need to stop the hate and
stop the violence.”
In Columbia, candles lit up the night in
memory of Kennedy at the State House.
Despite the fact the crowd was somewhat
smaller — around 100 people — the emotion
surrounding Kennedy’s death was ever pres
ent. “How could anyone think of hurting any
one because of who they are?” Kennedy-
Parker asked those present.
In addition to Kennedy-Parker, Sean’s sis
ter Dawn, South Carolina Equality Coalition
board member Ed Madden and Columbia
Mayor Bob Coble spoke to the group.
The outpouring of support for Keimedy-
Parker has prompted the mother of the slain
youth — along with other members of the
Upstate — to put together Sean’s Last Wish, a
see vigils on 16
Activist takes on homophobia
page 12
AMA adopts trans policy
page 20
Task Force releases Asian survey
page 18