The murder of Larry Bland shocks a community into solemn reflection.

The recent news of the untimely death of Larry Bland has rocked Chicago’s African-American gay community. “The secrecy is killing us”, says Father Juan Reed emphatically.

Father Juan is the pastor of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, an open and affirming congregation in the city’s Austin neighborhood. “This is why being out is so important. It’s the way we’re forced to hide in the shadows” says Father Reed flatly.

What is perhaps more disconcerting than the death itself is the lack of press Bland’s death has received in the local press. Fox News devoted less than 30 seconds to the story, yet the death of Kevin Clewer, a white gay man from Edgewater who died in parallel, if not exactly verbatim circumstances as the victim of murder at the hands of a man he took home, galvanized the Edgewater community and received several mentions in both the gay and mainstream press.

Marc Loveless, the head of The Coalition for Justice and Respect, a grassroots organization in Chicago, is angered but unsurprised by the press blackout. “This is typical, really” says Loveless. This past Thursday, Marc held a press conference to let the Chicago community know that his organization would continue to apply pressure to the Chicago police department to continue to investigate the case and that it would be planning a candlelight march focussed on bringing awareness to the case of Larry Bland and others.

The march will be held Dec. 31st at 2 pm, beginning at 79th and Wabash and ending at 79th and Jeffrey."We want to call attention to this, let the community and the police department know that we are watching, and we don't want this to be swept aside" says Loveless.

It is the sincere hope of many that the death of this young man will lead to frank and open discussions about sexuality in the black community and the dispelling of the mists of secrecy that set the stage for his death in the first place.