Unitarian? Ha,ha,ha! That's not a religion,it's an organized form of atheism.

They do come out of the woodwork when a LGBT dies. Sad.

alces and bobsmith. . . cruel, bullies, please stay away from the children, they might catch something from you.

And robin56 just think, they both are one generation removed from being a baboon. We have come so far.

I'm so sorry this happened Charlie. God keep you. I look forward to meeting you some day.

Charlie Howard was my friend. Many in the community who knew him rejected him for his flamboyancy, outspokenness and the mere fact he could be himself. ( that means he was authentic regardless of public opinion). I was astounded, and still am, by the people who used his death to say ,omg Charlie was my friend. I can't believe he is gone. Charlie was a sweet, kind, compassionate soul. He was a very endearing individual and one of the best friends anyone could have had. He was to have been one of my birth coaches the fall of 1984. The night he was murdered, I was to have met and picked him up to go to camp. My, then, partner and I did not get to town and we could not reach him by phone. When we arrived back in Bangor, a day and a half later he was dead. Talk about utter devastation. Now, today, I am glad this LGBTI community has catalyzed and come together more than it was 25 years ago. I truly hope and pray no one ever has to endure this kind of atrocity, again. It is sad it took his death to bring so much focus on being a stronger community, however, it did just that. I'll clue you, Charlie Howard is on the other side pleased as punch and saying woohoo, let's dance while wearing his half dress/ half men's suit outfit. Why is he doing so? Because he was pure love and loved a great celebration. His life is still being celebrated by the remembrances. He was a true 2 spirited individual, a gender bender and oh so fluid. I loved him then, I love him still and he is greatly missed by me. Thank you to all of you who hold love and compassion as more than just words and demonstrate them.

DrumBangingGirl - thanks for sharing your story. It's nice to read something positive for a change.

Ditto, I am very glad to see nobody turning this story into a platform to slam those who are different.

Everyone is a unique human being! I'm glad and proud that people remember Charlie's memory.

I hope the punks remember what they have done.Lets hope they donot try this again.To bad they didnot get life in jail .

what happened to the three boys that did this? i read they were sentenced as juveniles.

why are those people crying. nobody - not even me are too young to remember this sinner

I read your comment (under comments) MaineExpatriat and had to look and see who was a chimp :) YUP I see that you are right, apparently they can! LOL

Looks like my post got deleted berquis but I did hit the nail on the head.

State Street does not begin until after the bridge. Howard was thrown off Hammond Street.

Wouldn't that be STATE Street?

It is indeeda tragedy when anyone does any such criminal act to another. Couple that with the fact that the act took another's life

is an abomination. I did not know Charlie Howard, and I am indeed sorry for the loss of his life by such violent and criminal behavior.

My haert goes out to his friends and family. That said , would he want his death to be used to promote same sex marriage in Maine?

There are those who are accusing those asking for the people's veto of being " haters" which is labeling them as much as people labeled Charlie

Howard. They are trying to make others believe the only reason they want a peoples veto is hatred...what a lie that is ... the current law has faults that can cause and cost others great hardship in a state where hardship is heavy enough. Why is the term " civil union" not enough .... because they want more then what regular married couples have ... the right to sue for their sexual preferences.... the law needs to be repealed and if one ever passes and stays it needs to protect all Maine people from special interest groups lawsuits, especially the civil ones in hiding waiting to spring up. protect us ALL not a chosen FEW. And please do not belittle all Maine people by using Charlie Howards death and the action of three people who have no human decency... God did not make mistakes nor did he make murders...people choose their paths.... God is ashamed of them as he is those who try and use the tradegy to promote their own agenda. Charlie Howard was not loved less by God...and not ALL maine people are " gay haters" like his murders. Lets not cloud the issues people.

To those who celebrate others lifes after their passing, BRAVO!!!!!! No one deserves the injustice forced on this young man.

And I am sure those who committed it have a long road in life and then they must answer on judgement day for their actions.

I am impressed by those who see that this type of situation should never occur to anyone for any reason!

see: http://www.geocities.com/katsuyo_chan04/roseforcharlie.html

1984 Bangor, Maine A Rose For Charlie

1984 Bangor, Maine

A Rose For Charlie:

By the time Charlie Howard reached high school in the late 1970's, he was accustomed to his classmates' taunts and sneers. Charlie was fair-haired and small boned. He has a learning disability. His severe asthma would have made it difficult for him to participate in sports, even if he had wanted to. The way he walked and talked set him apart from most of the other boys in Portsmouth, N. H. As a little kid, he got laughed at and called a "sissy". In later years, he got shoved around and got called a "fag". Charlie had to have a tough shell just to get through most days without crying or running away. Undearneath, he has accumulated a lot of scars and bruises. He wondered if people would ever leave him alone - or if, because he was gay, he would be the butt of their jokes forever. Charlie couldn't wait to get out of high school, but he skipped his graduation ceremony becasue he didn't want his family to witness how the other students treated him. Many new graduates see the future as an open door. Charlie saw doors closing. Since his grades were low, he wasn't considered as "college material" Jobs were scarce in Portsmouth, especially for someone who made no secret of being homosexual. He didn't get alone well with his stepfather, so he knew he couldn't continue to live at home. As long as he remained in Portsmouth, Charlie felt, he would be an embarrassment to his family. Leaving town seemed to be his only option. He drifted away around for a few years, into his early 20's, and the familiar hassles and put-downs wherever he went. He eventually moved in with a man in the small coastal town of Ellsworth, Maine. When the realationship broke up in early January, 1984, Charlie decided that nearby Bangor, with a population of 30, 000, offered better opportunities for work and a social life. A mutual friend introduced Charlie to Scott Hamilton and Paul Noddinm who lived in a big Victorian house they had restored on Highland Avenue in Bangor. Charlie had no money, no job, and no plans. Scott and Paul offered him a place to stay while he looked for work. As the weeks passed, Charlie's prospects remained bleak as the Bangor winter, The local job market what he had hoped for, and after a month Scott and Paul suggested that Charlie might be better off returning to Portsmouth, where he had more connections. Charlie's mother let him move back home. The new arrangement didn't last a week. He moved in with another man, but this situation didn't work out either. He called Scott and Paul. They could hear the pain in Charlie's voice, so they decided to help him give Bangor another try. Something was different this time. Charlie was more upbeat and determined, and his high spirits seemed to open more doors. A neighbor helped him get a part-time job through a city emplyment program. He found a warm community of friends at the Unitarian Church, which had a number of openly gay memebers.

The church also sponsored Interweave, a gay and lesbian support group. As a token of thanks for their generosity, Charlie suprised Scott and Paul by decorating their house for Easter and cooking an elaborate meal. A few weeks later, he took a palce of his own on the third floor of an old roominghouse on First Street, behind the church.The building was run down, but Charlie livened his surroundings with posters and plants, and eventually, a kitten. Church had never been a big part of Charlie's life, but the acceptance he felt among the Unitarians was a new experience. Here he found a new place to express his own openness and sense of humor, his love for life. He started attending services regularly and soon decided to undertake the preparations required for membership. The Unitarian Church and Interweave were the only two organizations in Bangor that welcomed homosexuals. Many of the other churches, in fact, were openly hostile. Fundamentalist preachers used their pulpits to blame gays and lesbains for many of society's ills. There were no gay bars in town, and the local clubs routinely kicked out couples of the same sex who tried to dance together. Most of Charlie's friends experienced verbal harrassment, and several had been physically attacked. Incidents of gay bashing often went unreported because victims expected little support from the police. As a newcomer in town, Charlie Howard ignored some of the unwritten rules observed by lmore long-term residents. He wore whatever he felt like, for instance, even if earrings and a shoulder bag and, occasionally eye make-up weren't "acceptable" adornments for bangor males. He liked to call people "dearie." In moments In moments of joy, mischif, or defiance, he could burst out into song (usually "I Am What I Am" from the musical La Cage Aux Folles). Refusing to camouflage himself in the crowd, Charlie drew the crowd's attention.-and it's anger. High school kids baited him with obsenities on the street. He got ejected from the West Market Disco for dancing with a man. One day in a grocery store, a middle aged women suddenly strated shouting at him, "You pervert! You Queer!" Everyone stared. Charlie dropped his basket and walked slowly toward the door, terrified. Just before exiting, he choked back his fear, turned, and blew a kiss at the cluster of hateful faces. This confrontation seemed to mark a turning point for Charlie. The stares of strangers began to spook him a little more after that. Sometimes he was affraid to leave his apartment. He stepped outside one morning and found his pet kitten lying dead on the the doorstep. It had been strangled. Charlie's friends wished they could shield him from such cruelties, but they knew he would have to come to his own terms with this perilous world. He wasn't the only one for whom church and Interweave meetings sometimes felt like shelters in a storm. Interweave sponsered a potluck supper on the night of Saturday, July 7th, 1984. When the party broke up around 10 o'clock, Charlie talked his friend Roy Ogden into walking downtown with him to check his post office box. They headed up state street. Midway across the bridge spanning Kenduskeag Stream, in the heart of Bangor, Charlie noticed a car slowing down just behind them. He thought it was one belonging to some high school boys who had harassed him a few days earlier. When they stopped the car and got out, he knew that he was right. The three young men had just left a party to look for some more beer when they spotted Charlie. Shawn Mabry, the driver, was a sixteen year old high school dropout who had recently been in trouble for using a nunchuk.

Mabry was making a name for himself in the city hocky league. Daniel Ness, a year older than Shawn, lived with his family on the west side, the upper-class side of Bangor. His favorite subject was art. Jim Baines, almost 16, managed to keep up his grades while playing football and basketball. He planned to go to college someday. Two girls stayed behind in the car. One of them had a fake ID that she intended to use to buy the beer. "Hey Fag!" one boy yelled. Then the three started running. Roy and Charlie took off, but Charlie tripped on the curb and fell hard onto the walkway. He couldn't get his breath: the excitement was making his asthma kick in. He felt his legs jamming. Charlie scrambled to stand, but the boys grabbed him. they threw him back down and laid into him with kicks and punches. "Over the bridge!" shouted Jim Baines. Daniel grabbed Charlie under the arms and lifted. Jim got him by the legs. Charlie was gasping now. He snatched enough air to yell, "I can't swim!" From the far end of the bridge, Roy heard his plea. Jim and Daniel heaved Charlie up onto the guardrail. They had to pry his hand loose. Shawn gave the shove that sent him over. THey looked down at the black water 20 feet below and congratulated themselves. The girls in the car were grinding the ignition. They yelled for Jim and Daniel and Shawn to come on, The boys spotted Roy Ogden watching from the end of the bridge and promised him he'd be sorry if he ever told anyone. When they got back in the car, they were laughing. Roy waited for the car to disappear. He could still hear the boys whooping and hollering. Then he ran along State Street till he found a fire alarm. In a few minutes, fire engines and police cars were screaming toward the bridge. Through downtown Bangor, Kenduskeag Stream flows between smooth concreat walls. In the depth below the bridge that night was estimated at around ten feet. The searchlights trained into the current and along the banks revealed no sign of Charlie Howard. Shawn, Daniel, Jim, and their two friends went back to the party. Everyone could see they had a story to tell. "We jumped a fag," they said, "and threw him in the stream." The other kids laughed and pumped them for details, then resumed dancing and drinking.

Around 1 a.m., rescue pulled out the body of Charlie Howard, 23, out of the Kenduskeag, a few hundred feet downstream from the bridge. Daniel Ness turned himself in the next morningm as soon as he heard the news. He couldn't believe Charlie was dead. They never intended to kill anybody- they just meant to "show" him. Shawn Mabry and Jim Baines decided to hop a frieght train out of town, but had second thoughts when they got to the railroad tracks. they each went home, where they were arrested. All three spent Sunday night in the Handcock County Jail. Local and state authorities agreed on Monday morning that that youths posed no further threat to the community.

Shawn, Daniel, and Jim were released into their parents' custody. the state filed formal charges of murder the following week. The boys were later tried as juveniles rather than adults. All three were convicted and sentanced to detention at the Maine Youth Center. On Monday night after Charlie Howard's murder, more than 200 people crowded into a memorial service at the Unitarian Church.

Afterward, a candlelight procession crossed the bridge. Charlie's mother had requested that someone drop a rose into the water. the marchers moved on to the police station, where they stood silently in the street.

bangorbrownie: Thanks for sharing this. Very painful.....very painful to read....it does not matter that quite a number of years have passed. Thinking of what that young man endured is just as painful and chilling now. May it never ever happen again.

Cher SUlly, fo the record, I really appreciate you as well as Cre8royalpalm and maineexpat. I enjoy reading your thoughts (probably becasue I agree with them)

SAdly, I could not type in the last line. At the end of the the article it says someone spray painted on a wall near the bridge "throw fagg0ts here"