Hate Crime: In N.C., Gay Man's House Torched

by Kilian Melloy EDGE Contributor Hate crimes against gays often involve verbal or physical assault, but they can also consist of property destruction. For one North Carolina gay man, that meant the loss of his house through arson. The Observer News Enterprise, a Newton, N.C. newspaper, carried a Nov. 7 story about the burning of Melvin Whistlehunt’s home, which was incinerated as a suspected hate crime, taking with it all of his belongings. Whistlehunt was working in the wee hours of Nov. 7 when a phone call from his mother alerted him that his house was burning. Firemen at the scene saw immediately that the fire was the result of arson; they also saw an anti-gay message scrawled in spray paint across the structure’s brick wall. A hate crime investigation was begun as soon as Whistlehunt’s mother informed the firemen that... [read full story]