On the afternoon of November 4, 2013, at around 5 o’clock, Sasha Fleischman was riding a bus home from school that day. The 18 year old attended a private high school, and for most of his youth, he identified himself as neither male nor female, but rather “genderqueer” because there was a quality of questioning. That day, while riding the bus, Sasha was reading a book, and shortly after fell asleep. He wore a skirt for almost an entire year at that point, and while asleep, three other teenage boys on the same bus began to laugh and make jokes about Sasha and his attire. Suddenly, one of the three boys flicked his lighter, and Sasha’s skirt went up in flames. Sasha immediately leaped up and began to scream. Two other passengers on the bus helped extinguish the fire, and afterwards, an ambulance rushed Sasha to the San Francisco burn unit. He was treated and operated over the next 4 weeks for his second and third degree burns. Richard Thomas, the 16-year-old boy who lit Sasha’s skirt on fire was arrested the following day. Due to the severity and nature of the crime, Thomas was charged as an adult, denying him of his protections, which included anonymity, which is generally allowed for juveniles. He was charged with two felonies, both with a hate crime clause that would increase the time he would have to serve if he were to be convicted. Thomas, at this point, was facing the possibility of a life sentence. Thomas was interviewed by the police, so they could understand why he did what he did that day on the bus. His only reasoning for almost every question, was that he was homophobic and did not like gay people. After months of courtroom dates, Thomas was eventually sentenced to 7 years in prison. The nature of this crime, in my opinion is horrific. A young man was brutally injured due to his life choices and preferences, and was attacked by another individual who simply did not like, and not understand, why others dress or behave unlike their “birth gender”. It was highly unfair for Sasha to have to go through weeks of treatments and operations for the severity of his burns, and who knows how much mental and emotional pain he had gone through both during and after the incident and trial.
I do believe that Thomas received the right sentence. Although his joke could have killed another human being, he was lucky it did not. The nature of his attack was immoral, and he should have thought about the consequences that may have come with his actions before proceeding with them. It’s unfortunate that a young man, only 16 years of age, much spend such a long time behind bars, but he, and many others, should take his sentence as an example that hate crimes are not tolerated. This country has overcome so much already. Slavery was abolished, gay people are now legally allowed to be married. This country is moving forward, giving rights to those who had never received them before. No one should be punished for their life choices, if they are not harmful to themselves or others. Everyone should be accepted of this differences and unique attributes.
This article ties in well with what we have been learning and discussing in class because is shows that hate and discrimination are still well and alive in our society. But this article also provide evidence that hate and savage acts towards others based on their differences will not be allowed nor tolerated, and depending on the act, there will be consequences. We are all people living within one large society. Everyone is different, and everyone has the right to be. It’s time that everyone becomes more accepting of others, allowing everyone to move forward and diminish the amount of discrimination and prejudice that exists.