Notable Lesbians
This week’s Notable Lesbian is:
Sakia Gunn
May 26, 1987-May 11, 2003
Sakia Gunn was a 
15-year old African American lesbian who was murdered in a hate crime in Newark, New Jersey in May 2003. While waiting for the #1 New Jersey Transit bus at the corner of Broad and Market Streets in downtown Newark, Gunn and her friends were propositioned by two men. When the girls rejected their advances (by declaring themselves to be lesbians) the men attacked them. Gunn fought back and one of the men, Richard McCullough, stabbed her in the chest. Both men immediately fled the scene in their vehicle. After one of Gunn’s friends flagged down a passing driver, she was taken to nearby University Hospital, where she died
Interesting tid bit:
The murder set off several protests in working-class Newark, and more than 2,500 people were reported to have attended Gunn’s funeral. n comparison to the 1998 gay-bias murder of Matthew Shepard, Sakia Gunn’s murder drew limited media coverage. Using the Lexis-Nexis database, Kim Pearson, a professor at The College of New Jersey found that there were 659 stories in major newspapers about Shepard’s murder, compared to only 21 articles about Gunn’s murder in the seven month period after their attacks. Pearson also notes that not only were Shepard’s attackers tried and convicted during this period, but that it took nearly that long for Gunn’s attacker to even be indicted.
Don’t forget about the Lez Keep it Real Contest! It’s still going on people because I haven’t had enough submissions. Submit and you can win!
More Notable Lesbians
If you have a suggestion for a Notable Lesbian, e-maill me at lyndsey.darcangelo@451press.net or use the contact form above and I’ll highlight her in an upcoming post.
*Some information provided by Wikipedia.com
notable lesbians, famous lesbians, sakia gunn, matthew shepard, Richard McCullough
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