Unfinished Lives

Remembering LGBT Hate Crime Victims

3 Gay Oregon Men in Costume Attacked on Hallowe’en Night

Two of the costumes worn by gay bashing victims of Portland, Oregon hate crime attack on Hallowe'en night [KATU photo].

Two of the costumes worn by gay bashing victims of Portland, Oregon hate crime attack on Hallowe’en night [KATU photo].

Portland, Oregon – Three gay men dressed in female costumes were savagely attacked in Portland on Hallowe’en, according to KATU News 2, the ABC news affiliate.  The trio say that the assault was motivated by anti-gay bias, since it was proceeded by a flurry of homophobic epithets. Dustin Miller, Joey Malone, and Curtis Hughes, friends who were looking for Hallowe’en fun, took great care in their drag costumes for the evening, one portraying Snow White and another Anna Nicole Smith–but the fun turned violent when a gang of five men started hurling anti-gay slurs at them as they walked along the Portland waterfront.

The Advocate reports that the gay men were beaten, dragged by their hair, and threatened with a knife.  Malone, who lost a tooth in the attack, said one of the assailants slashed at his stomach and his head with a knife, intending to stab him.  “He swung it at my stomach and then swung it back up at my face,” Malone said.  In a defensive move, Malone kicked off the stiletto heels he was wearing, and used them to back the attackers off.

In their interview with KATU, the three men vividly recalled the chaos and fear they felt as their assailants pressed their assault:

“I was on the ground and they reached over and punched him in the face.”

“All I saw was blood all over his mouth.”

“I was in shock. I felt my tooth go into my tongue and I spit it out onto the ground.”

“All I remember is hearing somebody yell there was a knife.”

“He swung it at my stomach and then swung it back up at my face.”

Hughes, Malone, and Miller recount their harrowing assault.

Hughes, Malone, and Miller recount their harrowing assault.

A passing cyclist aided the victims, and the gang of attackers ran from the scene, leaving the trio scarred, bruised, and shaken, but thankful they were not injured more seriously from the sudden, savage assault.  Hundreds from the community have responded with messages of support and comfort to the victims, and have donated money to help with medical expenses.  In one overwhelming expression of generosity, a local dentist replaced Malone’s broken tooth with a temporary replacement, and pledged to complete the permanent dental replacement later.

Hughes, Malone, and Miller reported the attack as an anti-gay hate crime, but they are not optimistic about anyone being apprehended and charged in the case.  They understand that their costumes were provocative, and that some might not appreciate their taste, but they never imagined that irrational hatred could turn the evening so brutal.  All three gay men are clear, however, that nothing they did provoked the attack, and they are determined to remain strong and proud in their gender presentations and identities.  As Malone told EDGE Boston, they are not going to let this experience change who they are, “Not even for a second.”

November 7, 2013 - Posted by | Anglo Americans, Anti-LGBT hate crime, Beatings and battery, gay bashing, gay men, GLBTQ, Hate Crimes, Heterosexism and homophobia, LGBTQ, Oregon, Slashing attacks, Slurs and epithets, Unsolved LGBT Crimes | , , , , , , , , , ,

1 Comment

  1. What angers me the most, is judging others and committing violence towards them. Our duty as a nation, is to show love towards our fellow man. Do not judge one that is different. WE ALL have differences.

    Comment by shuggypooh | January 29, 2014


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