Back in 1989 on this day, Marc Lepine gunned down and killed nine women in what became known as the Polytechnique Massacre in Montreal. He also injured dozens more in the attack before killing himself. His motives were that he was “fighting feminism”; it was an engineering department and it enraged him that women were learning “his” trade and taking jobs.
I was 15 years old at the time and it was the first time that I ever realized that someone might ever hate me just because I’m female. It was a sobering realization and more than just a little scary too. Every year I like to remember the names of those who died for no other reason than they had a uterus.
In memory of Geneviève Bergeron, Hélène Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Maryse Laganière, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michèle Richard, Annie St-Arneault, Annie Turcotte, Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz, may you never be forgotten.
What became the anthem of the Polytechnique Massacre:
What never fails to shock me about these mass murders is that often many people were fully aware of an individuals strange, if not frightening, behavior. How often do we hear the post-murder stories along with the line, “I couldn’t do anything since he hadn’t done something wrong yet.” Surely there is a way to get over that hurdle besides wait until a mentally disturbed person kills several others first.
I remember talking to a guy about this and his response was *(Pardon my languge)…”The bitches probably deserved it.” That is what strikes me about these things… there are more of these kind of psychos than you realize. I’m glad you recalled for us this event. It was the first mass tragedy I remember well.
Well, I feel sort of bad about posting that above. It is what I remember most about that day – how shocking and terrible it would be for a college kid in Denver to say such a terrible thing, but it shouldn’t have to be everyone’s memory of it. 🙁