LGBT News Report - Aaron Hernandez was Bisexual and killed to protect his secret

Even if true, that's so ridiculously far from justifying murder...

 

Murder is murder is murder.

It's awful that society created this situation, but regardless, he killed someone.

 

The whole situation is horrible.
1) Society and specifically it's gender roles are irritating and cause uncomfortable situations like that.
2) No, it does not justify murder. It is a terrible effect, but not justified (especially where it could be discovered.)
3) On a slightly different note, why get mad at the corrections officials for "negligence"? He was sentenced to life in prison. Were they trying to get him out, still, or something? I mean, the detail which he planned his suicide, I don't know. I'm not saying it's right, but at the same time, I'm also one of those people who sometimes struggles to understand what's wrong with suicide, especially in a hopeless situation.
4) I think society is to blame for creating the situation, probably (that of him feeling the need to hide his sexuality so strongly), and it is certainly something that, as humans, we need to address. However, I think there were also underlying issues that went unnoticed until he exploded.

 

Very interesting story.

I'm not seeing CNN, Fox News, or another major news firm report on this angle of it, so for now I don't really believe it. On the other hand I'm sure it's complicated and the major news firms don't want to risk a libel suit on mere speculation. I'll be curious to see if this is picked up by more firms than that Washington Post.

There could be truth in it. Perhaps Odin Lloyd knew that Hernandez was gay or bi and blackmailed him. Could Lloyd have threatened to out Hernandez if he didn't help him make the Patriots team or get into the NFL generally?

Of course the above is far-fetched speculation, but the presumed fear of being outed in the NFL would make the blackmail hypothesis possible. To me it also seems completely congruent with murder to stay in the closet at any cost, since being closeted often is motivated by irrational, overwhelming fear. I would think that fear would be a powerful motivating force for both murder and suicide. This of course is in addition to Hernandez' troubled past with violence.

If Hernandez believed that being gay or bi is a sin, his suicide tableau might have also suggested repentance for and complete resignation of his closeted self. Again, not that this hypothesis is the only one, but religious shame is usually paramount in issues of sexuality and we already are well aware of the mental health consequences.

Then again, Hernandez had committted murder, and he committed suicide as his former teammates were touring the White House. That would be a powerful shaming event in its own right, and Hernandez may have simply had a visceral reaction to that kind of shame of failure, not related to sexual orientation.

I'm waiting to see what else develops, and wondering if the fear of being outed was his motive for murder and then suicide. Whether about sexual orientation or not, he somehow seemed (to me) like an otherwise good but troubled person who lost hope.

Patrick

 

Well, err... I wouldn't exactly deem them the most credible source regardless.

But it's such a strange world we live in. Don't think for a second this is the first time this has happened either, I'm sure many know of the "Gay panic defense" and other ridiculous legal holes and laws encouraging this sort of behavior.

 

Yes, the gay panic "defense" phenomenon is pretty sad.

 

Here'a a report from Newsweek that's pretty clear about the link to a potentially closeted sexual orientation:

Aaron Hernandez's Sex Life Probed as Murder Motive, Police Source Says