Good evening. Thank you for being here. My name is Elke Kennedy, and I lost my son to bigotry, hate and violence in May of 2007. He was murdered simply for being who he was, an openly gay young man.

Although Sean was only twenty years old at the time of his death, his wisdom and compassion for others far surpassed his years. He accepted people as they were, and embraced many who had been rejected by their families and communities. On countless occasions I came home to find people sleeping on my living room floor, only to find out after Sean died that many of these kids had been kicked out of their houses for being gay or lesbian and had nowhere else to go.

Less than two years ago, on May 16th, 2007, Sean was leaving a bar in Greenville, when Stephen Andrew Moller got out of a car, walked over to Sean. Stephen called him a faggot and punched him in the face so hard that he died. Most of you here tonight are familiar with the story of Sean’s murder, and you may know that tomorrow morning, the South Carolina Parole Board will decide whether to let my son Sean’s murderer out of prison after only 8 months.

Although we are asking the parole board to make Moller serve the remainder of his sentence, the most time he could possibly serve is until July 7th because he got 2 month credit for pursuing his GED in prison. Remember he already got a break when he plea-bargained and got charged with only involuntary manslaughter which is considered a non-violent crime. Also, I must ask, is pursuing your GED in prison really considered rehabilitation?

I cannot bring Sean back to life, nor can I make the South Carolina legal system do justice to his memory. But what we can do together is to love and accept people from all walks of life, of all races, religions, sexual orientations, and gender identities, and we can encourage others to do the same.

In the 21 months since Sean was murdered, his story has shaken the South Carolina gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community to its core and has shown us that we cannot take the safety or acceptance of our community for granted. Sean’s murder has not only inspired my family and I to fight for justice, but has motivated people across the state and the country. People of all ages, backgrounds, sexual orientations and gender identities have joined the fight for social justice.

I pray each day that no other family has to go through what my family has gone through.

Based on FBI statistics South Carolina was just named number one in violence for 2007. According to the Southern Coverty Law Center, South Carolina is the number one state per capita with 45 active hate groups. And we are number 48 in the nation for education!

I don't know about you, but as a citizien of South Carolina this is not acceptable to me!

When is our state going to be number one in caring about its citizens? When are we all going to say enough is enough?

I challenge our governor, legislators, solicitors, Senators, Congressmen and all citizens to act now. Sean is not the only murder victim in South Carolina that did not get justice.

South Carolina laws are inadequate and do not protect all of us equally. This must change. We must tell our public officials to review and develop appropriate murder laws that will protect every human being equally. We must start to identify and document all bias motivated crimes and expand existing penalty enhancements for crimes motivated by racism, religion, ethicticity, sexism, homophobia, and other forms of prejudice. As I have stated before, I am willing to work with our officials to get this changed.

We do not gather here tonight because we want revenge. We are not here because we hate Stephen Andrew Moller. We are here because we want justice for our children, our citizens and visitors to our state. The hatred and senseless violence that led Stephen Moller to kill my son Sean must end! We must work diligently to change hearts and minds through educating people about how bullying, hatred, violence, prejudice and religious bigotry leads to senseless crimes. We must teach each other that differences should be a source of strength, rather than a source of division. We must learn to resolve conflicts in a non-violent manner with patience and respect rather than frustration and anger.

This is the mission of Sean's last wish.

When we accomplish these goals, justice will prevail.

I want to thank everyone, individuals and organizations for their support and working with us in these past 21 months.

A special thank you to our coalition partner - the South Carolina Progressive Network and John Dawkins. This evening was only possible because of their hard work and support.

And last, but certainly not least I want to thank each and every one of you here tonight for your love and support. Only united can we achieve what must be accomplished.

No mother should ever have to bury her child.

No mother should ever have to lose her child to hate and violence.

No mother should ever have to fight for justice for her child.

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