The Story Of Charlie Howard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                         As previously posted, the gay bashing at the opening of "IT, Chapter Two," caused me to almost walk out.  I had completely forgotten this was in the book, and when I found out it was based on an actual incident, I grew interested.  It turns out to be a tragic story.

                                         Charlie Howard was from Portsmouth, New Hampshire.  He did not have a happy time there, especially in high school, when he was bullied for his sexual orientation.  He was also asthmatic.  Charlie did not attend his high school graduation, for fear of his parents' shame, over his classmates' taunts.  Rather than college, Charlie became something of a drifter.

                                            He ended up in Ellsworth, Maine, where he had a short term relationship.  But that ended, and Charlie next went to Bangor, Maine.

                                              Arriving there homeless, he was, at first, befriended by Paul Noddin and Scott Hamilton.  They gave him a roof over his head, taking him into their home.  But, after a month, Charlie's job prospects were poor, and the couple kindly suggested he should return home, to his mother and stepfather.

                                              Charlie did just that, but could barely last out the week there.  He called Paul and Scott, who invited him to come back to Bangor.

                                                Things improved for Charlie, for a time.  He became a member of the local Unitarian Church, and the support group Interweave, both of which accepted him for who he was, and, in time, he made many friends among these group members.  As thanks for Paul and Scott's support, he prepared an Easter dinner for them, decorating their home in holiday tradition.  He soon got an apartment of his own, near the church, on First Street, and adopted a kitten.

                                                 But there were still incidents.  High school boys tormented him, and he got into an altercation with a woman, who called him "A pervert!," to his face!  Can you imagine!  That bitch!  I hope her hair falls off her head!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                   The culmination of all this was on the evening of July 7, 1984.  Charlie and his boyfriend, Roy Ogden, left an Interweave Church supper at 10PM.  Walking up State Street, and nearing the Kenduskeag River Bridge, a car full of male teens--Shawn Marby, Jim Baines, and Daniel Ness--approached the couple. Two girls were with them.  They had been partying, were drunk, and as one later said, were "looking to beat up a faggot."

                                                     The boys pursued the couple.  Roy ran to get help, but Charlie fell, and his asthma kicked in.  After beating, kicking and pummeling Charlie, they decided to throw him into the river, though he pleaded that he could not swim.  This the boys did, and by the time Roy returned, with help, Charlie was dead, though his body was retrieved.

                                                        Afterward, the boys returned to a party, bragging about what they did.  When, the next day, it was announced Charlie was dead, one boy turned himself in, and the other two fled town.  After a trial, the boys were sent to the Maine Youth Center, on October 1, 984.  But not for long.  Jim Baines was released two years later, while Shawn Marby served only 22 months.  Daniel Ness went off the grid.

                                                         Twenty five years later, two of the boys, now middle aged men, expressed remorse. Jim Baines, with Ed Armstrong, wrote a book called "Penitence," in 1994, preaching tolerance for others, and referring to the murder.  Shawn Marby later confessed regret and remorse, saying he thinks about Charlie every day.

                                                            No word from Ness.  But I have to wonder how these leopards could change their spots.  They cannot deny what they did.  I know abut forgiveness, and such, but I find it hard to wrap myself around the remorse of these men.

                                                               But, hey, I don't have to live with it, every day.

                                                                A memorial, near where Howard's death took place, with a plaque, reading, "May we, the citizens of Bangor, continue to change the world around us, until hatred becomes peacemaking, and ignorance becomes understanding."

                                                                 King used this incident in "IT," not to be homophobic, nor to necessarily skewer Bangor, but to show the evil existing in fictional Derry.

                                                                   And it goes on.  The memorial was desecrated by anti-gay vandals, in May, 2011.  It was quickly repaired by supporters.

                                                                    Charlie's death anniversary, July 7, is now celebrated, in Bangor, as Diversity Day,"

                                                                      We all know these hate crimes need to stop.  But what I want to know is how come perps in gay hate crimes don't serve as much time as straight perps committing regular crimes?????????????????

                                                                           Do gay lives matter less?????????????????????