The Friendly Ghost Detective Agency - Part 3
2007 November 22
THE NEIGHBOR "HOODS"
About this Woody character. He is one of those street goons who rants
and gestures violently in public, making the Castro a miserable
experience for tourists and residents alike.
Since he was driven out, another fruit-loop has taken that place,
Dane...who is even crazier than Woody. And though gay himself, behaves
very homophobically. He's quite tall, dirty blond curly hair, skinny
and usually scruffy in appearance, straight out of a Dickens novel.
(Hey check this out: a news article about Dane's harassing residents
in the Castro: "Accused Castro stalker gets felony charges". Dated
March 28, 2007. Well, he's back out on the streets again anyway...just
saw him two nights ago.)
----------
!!! WE INTERRUPT YOU FOR THIS SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!!!
Before anyone takes offense, allow me this redeeming (and LIKELY)
hypothesis:
Such a unique destiny as mine demands an equally unique challenge,
most im****tant: a TOUGHENING of one's mettle. The usual nurturing
friend****ps would surely NOT fulfill This Mandate From Up Above. I
therefore extend my utmost gratitude to both my enemies and seemingly
clueless friends alike, for having the GUTS to play this out: a most
difficult role, massively grievous albeit sacred.
"We have no enemies, only teachers." (Buddha)
"Love thine enemies." (Jesus)
"Go suck an egg!" Rhoda Morgenstern's mom.
WE NOW RETURN YOU TO YOUR REGULAR SHOW
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I tried being friends with Woody many times, but he always winds up
harassing me while pretending he doesn't know what he's doing. Playing
the "mentally disturbed" card to trick soft-spined liberals into
believing he can't help himself. (I'm a HARD-spined liberal, FYI.) He
also feigns homelessness, which he is not, in order to garner dollars
from sympathetic (though clueless) passersby. I frequent a coffeehouse
on Church near Market...and so does Woody (who bears a hilarious
resemblance to Buzz Lightyear of Toy Story fame). He will interrupt
and "act out" whenever I'm sitting outdoors, trying to meet guys.
Jumping around like an ape and hollering weird phrases, so that my
possible friend is scared away from both that coffeehouse and myself.
Woody does this INTENTIONALLY. It is a homophobic reaction at my
harmless attempts to cruise the cute ones.
In general, associating with Woody condemns me to social
loneliness...which is "his plan" all along. I once designed a button
just for him ("What would Woody do?"), in hopes of winning him over
towards respecting me. Didn't work. But that's not the worst of it:
Six years ago I was bashed by a gay crack-head named Matthew. Not
seriously mind you, as I had a strong friend nearby who stopped it;
but my attacker got away. Matthew did terrorize me however. While I
was still in his grip (after he smashed my head against the wall
several times, sudden-like), said: "Next time I see you, I'm gonna eat
the skin off your face." (A Hannibal Lector wanna-be, no doubt.)
At that time, my apartment building was covered in thick, black gauze
for stucco removal and replacement, with scaffold surrounding the
entire structure, from the first floor to the fourth.
This meant ANYONE and his homeless cousin could easily clamber onto
the make****ft boards and rap on a resident's window, begging for a
cigarette (which DID happen at least once). Or break in and steal...or
bash, or rape, or murder. Worse yet, the illegal Mexican laborers
hired by our slumlord were typically homophobic, making all sorts of
gay-hateful comments while standing on the scaffolds, beside our
apartment windows and peering in. I know because I heard them, and "Yo
entiendo espanol". (There was a lawsuit over this BTW, by 13 outraged
residents including myself; a year later we won. I got $8,000...though
it should've been $40,000. More on that later.)
So naturally I was frightened that Matthew could be lurking somewhere
nearby, and at any moment climb the scaffolding and break into my
room. (He did know where I lived; for in the past he was very mellow,
and I enjoyed his visits.) I slept with heavy furniture blocking my
two windows, that I may have a fighting chance to fend a surprise
attack. It was a NIGHTMARE manifest in real life...very Freddy
Kreuger.
During this time, someone would buzz my room every few days, via the
front gate intercom, and speak in a gravelly tone: "I'm gonna get you,
I'm the DEVIL." Of course, I feared it was Matthew. This would go on
EVERY DAY for almost three months. It wasn't until several weeks after
it stopped, I learned that WOODY was the culprit. He disguised his
voice well.
So after all these years trying to temper Woody's scary behavior, I
finally gave up and told him to NEVER speak or go near me again. Of
course he didn't take me seriously...so now after almost five months
ignoring him, he is bothered by my aloofness, and threatens to be,
once again, an unpleasant and dangerous stalker in my social
meanderings. But I have a STRONG will, and will deal with it
accordingly. I understand he is out of jail on his own recognisance
(don't know for what), and the slightest slip-up could land him back
behind bars.
Unfortunately, street denizens like Dane and Woody are NOT the
exception, but the RULE of what's come down in the Castro regarding
the street scene, what with all the homophobic homeless who claim turf
rights here in the Castro. They in fact DRIVE OUT, HARASS and BASH
whatever gay homeless may attempt to find sanctuary in this, the
supposedly-GAYEST neighborhood on the planet. The hetero homeless
BICKER and FIGHT in broad daylight, as if even their hetero clashes
were far more righteous than any gay couple holding hands. And the
POLICE do nothing to thwart--let alone discourage--these hillbilly
antics.
The streets of San Francisco have become frighteningly dangerous as a
result of The City's own failure to be truly gay friendly (except in
lip service). I suspect that our local government's "gay friendliness"
draws the line between the affluent and the low income and poor.
Dumping the homeless (who are MOSTLY hetero, ergo homophobic) in gay
neighborhoods is an effective social engineering strategy to keep
queers in their place, and discourage them from rebelling and taking
civil disobedience to the streets. I've met numerous homeless gays who
are terrorized, bashed, and driven out of the Castro by the majority
homeless who are HETERO in proclamation.
Violent ex-convicts are released by California's prison system, into
the big cities (Sacramento, Los Angeles and San Francisco) stranded on
the streets where they must fend for themselves. This turns
neighborhoods into dangerous breeding grounds for violent crimes (and
break-ins) that often go unchecked by our local police force. Gay
neighborhoods are especially vulnerable.
Intelligent ex-cons manipulate the dumber homeless to terrorize
neighborhoods so they can have the streets to themselves at night, and
more easily run drugs, burglarize, mug and in general cause whatever
mayhem suits their mood. They even share maps in prison of the gay
neighborhoods, bars, and amicable connections. (You can learn a LOT as
a gay street activist, if you're not afraid to get your hands
dirty...along with certain OTHER body parts!) So when they're on the
outside again and need a place to hole up (or hide out), just where do
you think they go? To a GAY BAR to hook up with some desperate
middle-aged fag too stupid to know better. Remember the brutal murder
of a longterm patron out of the (now-defunct) black gay bar, the
Pendulum (due to reopen after being closed for three years, god help
us)?
That was commited by a street tough, Jim McKinnon, who was couch
hopping one gay residence after another. He even stayed for a couple
weeks at the apartment of weekday bartender "Donny" (that short
****tugese guy w/Russel terrier "Jackie O"; I can't remember his real
name), before moving in with patron Gary Lee. In fact, he impressed
everyone there (including myself) with his good nature. Even paid me a
back-handed compliment among the afternoon patrons: "You know," he
said pointing directly at me from the far end of the bar, "if I didn't
know Zeke so well, I'd be afraid of him." That gave me a warm glow,
and I later thought: "Hmmm, Jim's not such a bad guy after all, and
kinda good lookin'. Maybe I WILL have him over." Little did anyone
know at that time, he had already committed the murder...the corpse of
the gay man who housed him was still rotting in the bathtub, covered
with a mountain of baking soda! Fortunately, that was the last time
"good ol' palsy-walsy Jim" made his appearance at the Pendulum, and
the last time I saw him. A week later the news broke; he was arrested,
awaiting trial. Scary to say, but he's up for parole in another year.
And just where do you think he'll seek company and comfort? Three
guesses!
Reflecting on this gnarly case, I'd like to bring up something just as
sinister, if not more so, regarding the Pendulum regulars. I first got
wind of this crime when I heard them talking in a huddle. Asked them
what's up, and they told me that a regular had just been murdered, by
this guy Jim. I shuddered to think it was the same "Jim" I had
befriended there, and was visiting me every four days or so, to smoke
some pot and hang out. So I asked them to descirbe this Jim. They
hemmed and hawed, would only divulge that he was white and "average"
looking, with an "average" build, and "average" height. They refused
to give me any further description, acting like they really couldn't:
he was just that average.
So of course I stopped seeing my Jim for a while...'cause he's an
average looking guy, too! Imagine how I felt, these regulars hoping to
set me up to become McKinnon's next victim! I asked and asked around
the Pendulum, and those who knew him, refused to say more, but that he
was "average". They certainly didn't have my best interests at heart!
This is a prime example of what a wicked streak runs through so MANY
of my gay brothers...whether black or white, rich or poor, handsome
or...er..."average". And such wickedness nurtures cults into
existence, like feeding human flesh to that alien plant, Audrey Jr.,
in Little Shop of Horrors.
Jim will not be the first murderer of a gay victim to be released, and
found once more socializing in The Castro. Years ago, my friend John
H. (who then lived at 2306 Market as I still do) pointed out to me, a
sleazeball standing on the sidewalk by Andy's Donut Shop. "He
strangled [so-and-so], and served eight years in the poky. Can you
believe he's back?"
The **** piles up! I wonder how many other murderers mingle DAILY in
our gay bars and *** clubs? Does that give you a boner, or what?
Another ex-convict, "Monty" terrorized our neighborhood for two years
before being locked up again. He'd stand on the corner of Castro and
Market, big, black and paranoid...to intimidate anyone and everyone
within his immediate locale. His favorite pastime was intimidating
peaceful white homeless dudes, especially the gay ones. "What are YOU
looking at?" was his particular phrase of choice. I saw danger written
all over him: but he saw something in me that would make him run the
other direction whenever I approached. (Wasn't body odor or bad
breath, I guarantee! And it certainly wasn't my size; I'm only
five-foot-seven.)
One evening while watching the news, Monty's face appeared on the TV
screen. He was wanted for the brutal beating of his current
girlfriend, gouging out her eyeball before he fled. (I'd say the lady
made a poor choice in a partner, wouldn't you, girlfriend?) Now just
where do you think he ran to when the heat was on? To The Castro of
course, where he entered the Pendulum in hopes of finding urgent
refuge. But a police officer had to die in a car chase turned bad
(first gay cop to perish in the line of duty BTW), and his partner
suffer brain damage, before Monty was finally apprehended. A youth
scholarhsip award was established in 2006, to honor Jon Cook's heroic
life.
See my article "Murders in the Rue Castro"
http://www.gay-bible.org/truetales/6_murder.htm
for additional comment on this, and other heinous crimes which haunt
our community, as a direct consequence of society's willful
homophobia, and The City's failure to respect its own gay citizens by
any significant measure, right here in so-called "Gay Mecca".
Not all the homeless are bad; indeed I AM a homeless advocate...and
once had many, decent houseless friends until things turned wicked
over 15 years ago. But I most certainly am NOT a bull**** advocate.
The Castro has been FLOODED with homeless redneck types who terrorize
neighborhoods, particularly gay people and women. They especially
don't like yours truly, for my brazen gay presence and attempts to
make the neighborhood safer by blowing the whistle on this rampant
homophobia that has become the Law Of The Asphalt. Keep in mind that
MOST of these thugs are bi***ual themselves. But they're only "gay"
for money, drugs, food or shelter (I call this "street capitalism").
The rest of the time, they swagger around doing their "macho
thang"...which includes threatening and ba****ng homo***uals. Can't
tell you how many times I hear late at night, these hillbilly goons
hollering "faggot" from the top of their toxic lungs.
They make it a source of PRIDE to argue in public with their
"wimmen"...as a display of hetero rightness to teach us queers a
lesson about Mother Nature's Proper Decorum. They think nothing of
aggressively panhandling you, even scaring you into "buying
protection" when you're on the streets...and if you decline, call you
"faggot" behind your back, in front of your back, and to the side of
your back. Even many GAY houseless play the homophobe card, in order
to reduce the danger of being fag-bashed themselves. My life is often
put in harm's way due to my notoriety, whenever I walk the streets of
Gay Mecca's Heart. For this reason I composed my wicked little farce,
"Welcome to Hoboville" in 2003...a kick in the groin to This Enemy
Occupation. I also carry pepper spray and wear steel-toe boots.
But most shocking of all, is how many gay people themselves gain
sadistic pleasure in my troubles! Rather then offer a hand in
friend****p (or call 911), they ENCOURAGE these 'phobes to harass me.
In fact, I've been left out in the cold by my own community. No matter
which pro-queer group I join, I wind up being vilified, isolated, and
driven out. (No matter how GOOD my intentions, and EFFECTIVE my
strategies.) My conclusion is that there is a powerful cult embedded
(and in bed with) our LGBT family, manipulating who can and cannot be
part of their world. The internalized homophobia of my gay brothers
plays to their advantage...along with substance abuse, misogyny,
racism and class snobbery. They grabbed the reigns of power during the
Harvey Milk Era, and have grown overwhelmingly strong and far-reaching
SINCE then...running ALL the gay bars and clubs here in San Francisco,
AND our organizations. And, worst of all, they have festered into a
nationwide carbuncle of toxic pus.
Speaking of San Francisco's dangerous streets: I was surprised and
delighted to read Caille Millner's take on the ****fty bums that have
turned this Walker's Paradise into a dark and scary pedestrian
nightmare: "Back to the Streets of San Francisco" (S.F. Chronicle,
11/2/07). A bluntly honest and condemning piece of journalism; she's a
brilliant (and lovely) young woman! Do promise you'll take a
gander...please, please, please. (SUPER pretty please with agave
nectar on top!)
http://tinyurl.com/3dnoth
Caille and others ARE waking up to how dangerous our streets have
become, and how this ties in directly with homophobia. But she, like
others, only perceives the tip of the iceberg...and would regard my
strident claims as nothing more than a nut job's conspiracy theory.
And that is precisely how this cult operates: surreptitious and
diabolical. Using wicked gossip to make Truth-Speakers like me come
off as blatheringly insane. Which in turn, makes potential friends my
enemies...and true friends nonexistant. At best, I've managed to have
friendly acquaintances over these difficult years. Some who read this
now, consider themselves a good friend. But don't friends hang out
with each other on a regular basis...go out for coffee and shmooze?
Not meaning to guilt-trip anyone here, but I DO want to point out:
That is not happening! (And you can't blame a hectic lifestyle on
this, as you DO find the time to spend with others you regard as
amigos.) Please realize you are unwittingly being manipulated by cult
members using subtle persuasion and crowding your social time to keep
me at bay. But I'm not knocking what I DO have:
I need all the friendly acquaintances I can get!
### Finis ###
Permission granted by author for anyone to distribute this
writing free of charge (including translation into any
language)...under condition that no profit is made therefrom,
and that it remain intact and complete, including title and
credit to the original author.
Ezekiel J. Krahlin
http://www.gay-bible.org
--
To view this article w/color images and revelatory links, see:
http://www.gay-bible.org/truetales/Larkin/FG_03.htm
This piece is an excerpt from my 2-volume opus:
Steal This Blog! (gay revolution)
http://www.gay-bible.org/steal
--
Zeke Krahlin
http://www.gay-bible.org
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