Why Abolition of the Death Penalty Is a Queer Issue
As I was looking for information about the state of parole in Ohio, (I'll explain why another day.) I came across The American Friends Service's homepage which includes an article entitled, "Why Abolition of the Death Penalty is A Queer Issue". It is an interesting pdf, the first in a series of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trangender) issue briefs that explore interrelationships inherent in LGBT anti-violence work, with particular reference to the U.S. criminal justice system.
One particularly insightful quote is:
In addition to the death penalty being applied to people of color, poor people, and juveniles, the strategic use of homophobia and rigid gender stereotyping by prosecutors often plays an instrumental role in persuading jurors to sentence particular defendants to death. It is not illegal to use a defendant’s actual or perceived sexual or gender identity to try to sway the sentence in a capital case. No watchdog organizations currently monitor the ways homophobia and gender stereotyping are used to demonize defendants and exploit juror bias.
Posted by Angela at 04:42 PM
Comments
That's a very interesting article and point of view that is not often taken into account in discussions of the death penalty. On a similar note, there is also a page on the site on Why LGBT Communities Have a Stake in Criminal Justice Issues - available at http://afsc.org/lgbt/criminal-justice/Default.htm which also provide links on how to get involved in AFSC.
Posted by: Valentina at September 10, 2004 12:15 PM
