Local opinion: Tucson killings show anti-LGBTQ hate persists

In 1988, while serving as a member of Athens (OH) City Council, I introduced an ordinance that added sexual orientation as a protected category within the city’s anti-discrimination laws, which covered the areas of employment, housing and public accommodations.

My colleagues and I examined model ordinances from other cities, including Tucson.

It wasn’t until this week, in the aftermath of the tragic killing of Vincent Siqueiros, 42, and Cameron Capara, 33, outside the Venture-N, that I learned that the adoption of the Tucson ordinance was inspired by the 1976 fatal beating of a gay man at the former Stonewall Tavern. Richard Heakin, a visitor from Nebraska, was just 21 years old.

If we look back on all that has happened since those times, we can take pride in the fact that our family members, friends and neighbors in the LGBTQ community enjoy greater legal protections and freedom than they did back then.

One of the essential American promises is that all our citizens deserve equal protection under the law. Our common humanity requires that each one of us should be accorded dignity and respect. All faith traditions admonish their followers to treat others as they would also hope to be treated.

Although the world of 2026 is not the same as the world of 1988, or 1976, the senseless murders of two innocent men, killed because of who they chose to love, demonstrate that we are not free of hatred directed at our LGBTQ neighbors.

Just as we continue to see examples of prejudice and discrimination based on gender, handicap, religion and race, the murders outside the Venture-N should sadden and motivate all of us.

“Love is love” was a beautiful expression of the human heart we often heard before and after the Supreme Court affirmed the right Americans have to marry the person they love.

Conversely, hate is hate, and two of our sons are dead because of it.

All of us are diminished and threatened by acts such as this.

Those of us entrusted with positions of leadership have the responsibility to consistently demonstrate that we will protect the liberties, rights and safety of each one of our citizens. We are obliged to condemn any act of bigotry, discrimination, hatred, or prejudice.

The people who elected us to represent them deserve no less, especially our children, who are always watching to see what examples adults will set for them.

When politicians seek to further their own selfish ends by seeking to “otherize,” or raise baseless fears about trans people, that is not leadership.

When they call into question the right to marriage equality by making ridiculous claims that it threatens traditional marriage, that is not leadership.

When they deny the crucial need for hate crimes laws, that is not leadership.

And when they do not take steps to ensure that all our people have the same legal protections in their homes, in their jobs, in their schools and in public places, that is not leadership.

It is often said that coarseness, division and polarization are endemic in our politics and public discourse these days.

While that may be true, there is much that has been done in our history to ensure that this nation is a freer, safer and more peaceful place for all its citizens than it once was.

Much more remains to be done, and nothing can make that sad fact more clear than these two awful deaths. Let all of us resolve to listen to our heads and our hearts, especially those of us honored to lead.