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    Almost a Way of Life: The Gay Struggle in the Eastern Coalfields
    Almost a Way of Life: The Gay Struggle in the Eastern Coalfields
    Almost a Way of Life: The Gay Struggle in the Eastern Coalfields
    Ebook64 pages52 minutes

    Almost a Way of Life: The Gay Struggle in the Eastern Coalfields

    By George Stewart

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    About this ebook

    My hope for this book is that people will educate themselves and young LGBT people will

    Realize that they are not alone, especially in the mountains of southeastern Kentucky or any

    area of this small planet. Hopefully there will be an awakening in part all over the world about

    equality and human rights. The heinous murders of people like Allen Schindler in Sasebo,

    Japanese Navy man who gave his life to be who he was, forever changed me. I plead that you

    read this book with an open heart and mind! People around the world face violence and

    inequality” and sometimes torture, even execution because of who they love, how they

    look or who they are. Sexual orientation and identity of gender are integral aspects of ourselves and should never lead to discrimination or abuse against anyone.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHawes & Jenkins Publishing, Inc.
    Release dateSep 12, 2023
    ISBN9781637843246
    Almost a Way of Life: The Gay Struggle in the Eastern Coalfields

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      Book preview

      Almost a Way of Life - George Stewart

      cover.jpg

      Almost a Way of Life

      The Gay Struggle in the Eastern Coalfields

      George Stewart

      ISBN 978-1-63784-323-9 (paperback)

      ISBN 978-1-63784-324-6 (digital)

      Copyright © 2023 by George Stewart

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

      Hawes & Jenkins Publishing

      16427 N Scottsdale Road Suite 410

      Scottsdale, AZ 85254

      www.hawesjenkins.com

      Printed in the United States of America

      Table of Contents

      Almost a Way of Life

      That Little Carbide Light

      He Sleeps With Men… But He Is NOT Gay?

      A Shiver in The Cold

      Summer Lovin'

      The Sauerkraut-Birthday Cake Parable

      Summer of 1977: A Story of First Love

      The Supermarket Parable

      Adam & Eve or Adam & Steve

      Love Thy Neighbor…

      The Scorpion Parable

      Isaac and Troy: An Old Love Story

      The Rest Stop

      A Letter to Greg

      Summer Camp

      About the Author

      Almost a Way of Life

      The Gay Struggle in the Eastern Coalfields

      I was born in a two-room ramshackle house atop Stone Mountain in the Cranks community of Harlan County, Kentucky on August 3, 1959. I was raised in the Kentucky coalfields along with six brothers and three sisters. We all knew what it meant to be dirt poor and struggle for survival. Even though times were hard, I had a very good childhood. The family raised chickens, hogs, and a vegetable garden to feed ten children. All during high school I dealt with being less than and called queer and fag. In addition to dealing with the likes of the Rev. Jerry Falwell and his so-called Moral Majority, After completion of high school at Evarts High there were people like Anita Bryant a prominent anti-gay crusader who led the Save Our Children campaign and rallied against homosexuals.

      Out of high school I the joined the US Army which was uneventful and after an honorable discharge I attended Shawnee State University in Portsmouth, Ohio and earned Associate of Arts in Social Sciences while trying to understand and cope with henious murders of Allen Schindler and Matthew Shepard.

      Allen R. Schindler Jr. was an American Radioman Petty Officer Third Class in the United States Navy who was murdered for being gay. He was killed in a public toilet in Sasebo, Nagasaki, Japan, by Terry M. Helvey, who acted with the aid of an accomplice, Charles E. Vins, in what Esquire called a brutal murder. The case became synonymous with the debate concerning LGBT members of the military that had been brewing in the United States, culminating in the Don't ask, don't tell policy during the Clinton administration.

      Schindler's killing remained front-page news throughout the spring of 1993 and his story and murder was portrayed in the 1997 TV film Any Mother's Son.

      Matthew Wayne Shepard was a gay American student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten, tortured, and left to die near Laramie on the night of October 6, 1998. He was taken by rescuers to Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, where he died six days later from severe head injuries received during the attack.

      Suspects Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson were arrested shortly after the attack and charged with first-degree murder following Shepard's death. Significant media coverage was given to the murder and what role Shepard's sexual orientation played as a motive for the crime.

      The prosecutor argued that the murder of Shepard was premeditated and driven by greed. McKinney's defense counsel countered by arguing that he had intended only to rob Shepard but killed him in a rage when Shepard made a sexual advance toward him. McKinney's girlfriend told police that he had been motivated by anti-gay sentiment but later recanted her statement, saying that she had lied because she thought it would help him. Both McKinney and Henderson were convicted of the murder, and each of them received two consecutive life sentences.

      Shepard's murder brought national and international attention to hate crime legislation at both the state and federal level. In October 2009, the United States Congress passed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (commonly the Matthew Shepard Act or Shepard/Byrd Act for short), and on October

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