Invoking Shachath: How Death and Rage Can Change the World in 'American Horror Story'
Warning: This article contains spoilers for 'American Horror Story: NYC' episode 8. On March 9, 1969, a homosexual man named Howard Elfland was beaten to death by LAPD. On June 24, 1973, a gay bar in New Orleans, Upstairs Lounge, was burnt down. 32 people were killed in the fire. On November 27, 1978, Harvey Milk, the openly gay city supervisor of San Francisco was assassinated by his political rival, Dan White, at City Hall. Outrage over the incident and White's short sentence--which lasted only 5 years--led to what is now known as the White Night riots. In January of 1979, Tennessee Williams was attacked by 5 teenage boys in Key West, Florida. He barely escaped serious injury. The attack was part of a larger spree of anti-gay violence inspired by a newspaper run by a local Baptist minister. On January 1, 1982, John Hanson and Rick Hunter were beaten by police outside the Y'all Come Back Saloon in Minneapolis. Hospital workers testified that the police referred to them as 'f*ggots' while their wounds were being treated. On October 27, 1992, U.S. Petty Officer Allen Schindler was stomped to death by his shipmate in a public restroom in Japan. He had been making multiple complaints about anti-gay harassment in the service. His name was used to justify the military's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy. It made it impossible for service members to report harassment, and it allowed the armed services to justify discharging someone for their sexual orientation and gender identity. In 1993, Brandon Teena, a FTM trans man was violated and murdered when his birth sex was revealed to his male friends. The events leading up to his death were chronicled in the film Boys Don't Cry. On March 9, 1995, Scott Amedure was murdered after an appearance on 'The Jenny Jones' show, where he confessed to having a secret crush on his friend Jonathan Schmitz. Schmitz purchased a shotgun, shot him, then turned himself in to the police. On February 21, 1997, a lesbian nightclub in Atlanta, Otherside Loung, was bombed by a man named Eric Robert Rudolph. Five people were injured. He had committed several previous bombings and later confessed that he believed homosexuality was an aberrant lifestyle.
