Michigan Trans Man Shot in His Wheelchair, Called Tr*nny, F*ggot
Political/religious leaders fanning flames of hate must take responsibility
They drove away shouting ‘tr*nny’ and ‘f*ggot’ and laughed after they shot me.
— Andrew Jonathan Blake-Newton, Pontiac, Michigan
I can’t tell you how shocked I felt reading the above words early yesterday morning in the LGBTQ newspaper Pink News. I’m a Michigander who lived in the Detroit area for many years. I know Pontiac well. Or I thought I did. If somebody had asked me before yesterday if Pontiac is the kind of place where a gay transgender man could be shot with a powerful pellet gun and taunted with slurs — while he’s out buying groceries in his powered wheelchair — I would have said no … no way, no how.
Those are not Michigan values. Those are not middle American values.
But it did happen. To Andrew Jonathan Blake-Newton, who lives in Pontiac with his husband Gareth, who Andrew tells me is, “A truly fantastic human being. I won the lottery.” Andrew began his transition well after he married Gareth, and while they’ve had their problems, their marriage is very strong today.
Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself.
