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| Compiled By GayToday
"The evening of the murder in Colorado, I chatted online with a number of AOL members who were either self-proclaimed members of the Trench Coat Mafia, or who vehemently disliked the group," said Aravosis, an Internet expert in Washington, D.C. "Both sides told me unequivocally that the group is not gay." According to Aravosis' online discussions, and reports in the media, the "Trench Coat Mafia" is a term used by American high school kids who are into the "gothic" movement and/or heavy metal music.
The AOL subscriber, using the screen name Wire Felon, said that the Trench Coat Mafia was not a violent gang, but rather "just like a union." Another AOLer, under the screen name CameronP14 told Wired Strategies that he considered the Trench Coat Mafia "a bunch of punks honoring the 'great' Hitler, when we all know he wasn't great." CameronP14 went on to call the group "assholes," but responded to a question as to whether the group was gay by saying "no." "Kids who are members of the Trench Coat Mafia say they aren't gay. Kids who hate the Trench Coat Mafia say they aren't gay. Yet Matt Drudge continues to beat this dead horse trying to find a gay angle - enough already," said Aravosis. Drudge has issued two stories implying the murder had a gay angle. The first quoted a single posting on an Internet newsgroup by someone claiming to represent "gay bikers," lauding the murder. The Associated Press immediately cast doubt on the authenticity of this post, calling it "suspicious" and implying that it was a hoax. Drudge's second story reported that Littleton, Colorado high schoolers used to call members of the Trench Coat Mafia "gay" and "homo," in addition to other gibes like "inbreed" and "freak." The story went on to quote a student that said some members of the Littleton Trench Coat Mafia-- not even indicating that he was talking about the accused murderers-- reportedly were seen holding hands in school. "Stop the presses, Matt Drudge has just reported that high school kids use 'gay' as an insult,' " said Aravosis. "My response to that revelation is quite simply: duh. For anyone who's ever been to high school, or known a teenager, this is not news, and certainly does not prove anyone is gay," he added. Of even greater concern, Aravosis notes, is that such premature speculation could flame anti-gay sentiments. Aravosis tells of an email he just received, reportedly written by a third party who had been forwarded Drudge's reports on the Colorado crime. The person wrote: "Your emails prove that the two male Colorado students that committed the mass murder at their high school were sodomites who were filled with homosexual rage." The writer went on to recommend that the sender "not use the word 'GAY'....You could use the word 'FAG' or 'Queer' or 'Sodomite' or 'Faggot'." Finally the writer recommended a visit to anti-gay crusader Fred Phelps' Web site (www.godhatesfags.com) to get "statistics about fags."
Rev. Phelps' God Hates Fags site
"Words have consequences," said Aravosis, "I would hope that before implicating gay people in this horrible massacre, everyone would first investigate the facts." |
Shooting suspects Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris 