There is no actual questioning of Blaze's behaviour. No reason that will ever justify murder in my opinion.
RSBM
I completely agree that none of what happened justifies murder. That being said, as I stated last week and as I'm sure we're all aware now, this case is nowhere near "black-and-white". Two lives have been destroyed by this, and there's no other emotion I can muster other than sadness.
Before I get crucified for "blaming the victim" again, let me just reiterate that I am not. However, I will say that it was not cool for BB to out SW.
As DAnthrplgst said, in the gay community "outing" another gay person is a cardinal sin. I am not a gay man, but I have friends that are. I've learned about it from them, and this concept has been documented very well in movies and TV. Not being gay I can't for a moment
completely understand the persecution gay people face in our society, just as I can't completely understand the persecution black people have felt in our society. But as an intelligent person, I can certainly empathize with both. And I have to completely take DAnthrplgst and others with first hand experience at their word as to the seriousness of this and the type of emotional upheaval it can cause. In SW's case this seems to be compounded by deeply held religious beliefs within his family, which as someone else posted, is a recipe for potential disaster.
I also think there's much more to this. These two, BB and SW, seemingly have had at least a friendship and possibly a deeper relationship lasting over several years. Adding potential love, rejection, etc. to the mix simply makes the situation more volatile. The "lover scorned" angle could certainly be a part of this.
As I said, it's all just very sad that the emotions were so charged that it wound up in an apparent murder. Perhaps if we lived in a more tolerant society, emotions and tensions wouldn't have to be so high to become a catalyst for such a terrible act.
Or perhaps it was pure vengeance, plain and simple.
I think it's too soon to know how much sympathy, if any, we should have for SW in this case.
But I don't think it's a cut-and-dry case of evil either. I think it's much more grey than that
JMO