Unfinished Lives

Remembering LGBT Hate Crime Victims

Savage Gay Bashing in Western North Carolina Called “Flat-Out Terrible”

Gruesome result of anti-gay hate crime in Asheville, NC [WBTV-News image].

Asheville, North Carolina – A gay couple was harassed, cursed, and then brutally attacked because of their sexual orientation on September 23, but the repercussions are still being felt in this nominally gay-friendly city.  The Citizen-Times reports that Charlotte gay men  Mark Little and Dustin Martin had anti-gay slurs shouted at them by two women driving a slow-moving car in the early morning hours of a quiet Sunday morning as they walked along Otis street. Martin “had enough” of the epithets, and shouted back at the women to stop.  Little said that at that moment, a black male rushed out of the vehicle and attacked Martin, punching him several times in the chest.  When Little intervened, the assailant turned on him, beating him to the ground and gashing his face.  “I screamed for him to stop, and he hit me in the face on the left side, and blood went everywhere. I was lying on the concrete,” Little told the Citizen-Times. Though three weeks have passed since the homophobic assault, both men say they remain “shaken” and fearful when any car pulls up beside them.

The Asheville Police say very little about the case, since it is still under investigation. Even though there is abundant testimony that the attack was bias-motivated and therefore a hate crime, since North Carolina does not have a gay hate crime provision in the state code, the incident can only be classified as a simple assault. The police do not have suspects in the case, only descriptions of the assailant and the four-door sedan in which he sped from the scene.

According to WBTV-News in Charlotte, Little and his partner Martin are frustrated that the Asheville Police are not taking the attack seriously enough.  “I feel like that when the cop first came on the scene he just felt like it was just an ordinary crime,” Little said. “But what had happened is we were hit just because we were gay.” As On Top Magazine observes, this bashing incident occurred only a few months after the notorious anti-gay Amendment One was passed overwhelmingly by the voters of the Old North State.

In an interview with The Citizen-Times, Monroe Gilmour, coordinator of Western North Carolina Citizens Ending Institutional Bigotry, called the homophobic assault “flat-out terrible.”  Gilmour went on to say, “Our experience over 20 years of working with victims of hate activity is that we need to make sure the targets of this hate do not feel alone. That is why it is so important that we publicly speak out and take constructive action to show that Asheville is about something very different from the hate of that incident.”

The irony of this hate crime is all the more severe since Martin and Little love Asheville, one of North Carolina’s most gay-accepting cities, and have made weekend getaways there regularly from their home in Charlotte.  Now, apparently, no city or town in the state is free of the new tide of right wing, anti-gay hate expressed in Amendment One.

October 14, 2012 Posted by | Amendment One, Anti-LGBT hate crime, Beatings and battery, gay bashing, gay men, GLAAD, Hate Crimes, Heterosexism and homophobia, LGBTQ, North Carolina, Slurs and epithets, Social Justice Advocacy, Unsolved LGBT Crimes | , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Matthew Shepard’s Fatal Beating, 14 Years Ago

Matthew Wayne Shepard, (1976 – 1998).

Laramie, Wyoming – October 7 marks the 14th anniversary of the fatal beating of Matthew Shepard, the 21-year-old gay man who became the icon of the movement to stop anti-gay hate crimes in the United States and around the world. Shepard was bludgeoned senseless with a .357 Magnum pistol and tied to the foot of a buck fence on a cold Wyoming night. Two local men, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, picked Shepard up from the Fireside Lounge in Laramie, abducted him to a high ridge outside of the university town, and brutally attacked him.  They stole his shoes.  Blood spatter at the scene covered a fifty foot radius.  Drag marks investigators found indicate that Shepard had to be bodily forced out of the pickup truck cab by his victimizers.  After he was discovered nearly dead the next morning, Shepard was rushed first to Laramie’s emergency facility, and then to Fort Collins, Colorado where he lingered a full five days before dying on October 12, 1998.  He never recovered consciousness.

Rather than leave Matthew as a two-dimensional icon, no matter how compelling, this anniversary, the Unfinished Lives Project offers a video of him taken two years before his death while he was attending Catawba College, a small United Church of Christ affiliated school in Salisbury, North Carolina.  Ironically from our present time, Matthew was interviewed briefly along with his then-boyfriend, Lewis Krider, about the anti-gay policies of North Carolina U.S. Senator, Jesse Helms. For a brief moment, we see and hear the young man whose death raised the world’s consciousness to the horror of hate crimes. Today, the Matthew Shepard Foundation continues the work Matthew surely would have longed to see done for the sake of peace, justice, and human freedom to love and be loved.  An award winning book authored by the founder and director of the Unfinished Lives Project, Dr. Stephen V. Sprinkle, Unfinished Lives: Reviving the Memories of LGBTQ Hate Crimes Victims, opens with a chapter on the struggle to maintain Matthew’s legacy and witness against the forces of right wing revisionism.  Matthew lives on in the hate crimes prevention act that bears his name and the name of James Byrd Jr.  His memory is strong in the LGBTQ community, and he is a continuing inspiration to everyone who loves peace and justice in a violent world.  Rest in peace, Little Brother.  Rest in peace.

October 8, 2012 Posted by | anti-LGBT hate crime murder, Beatings and battery, Catawba College, gay bashing, gay men, GLBTQ, Hate Crimes, Heterosexism and homophobia, LGBTQ, Matthew Shepard, Matthew Shepard Act, Matthew Shepard Foundation, North Carolina, Senator Jesse Helms, Social Justice Advocacy, U.S. Senate, Unfinished Lives Book, Wyoming | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Matthew Shepard’s Fatal Beating, 14 Years Ago

Gay Montana Man Bashed On His Birthday: Updated with Breaking News

Joseph, 22-year-old hate crime victim, told by Missoula, Montana authorities that his injuries warrant only a misdemeanor charge.

Missoula, Montana – Breaking News: Joseph Baken, 22, aka “Joseph,” in this widely reported news story on the web, has pleaded guilty to filing a false police report in Missoula Municipal Court, and has been sentenced to jail time and a fine.  His injuries were self-inflicted, and his gay bashing account was fabricated.  See the new post on this development here.  The Unfinished Lives Team retracts its previous story, which is posted below. 

A 22-year-old gay man was invited outside a Missoula club Saturday night, and then ridiculed, called a “faggot,” and beaten by three men for asking where he could find a gay bar to celebrate his birthday.  Missoula Police say that the young man, identified only as Joseph, did not have severe enough injuries to warrant more than a misdemeanor charge for the attack.  The LGBTQ community in Big Sky Country and around the nation has arisen in outrage over the trivialization of what thousands are now calling a hate crime attack.  In an angry comment posted on Wipe Out Homophobia’s Facebook page, a woman writes, “Nobody deserves this, especially not just because of your sexuality. Stay strong, Joseph!  Half a million of us are on your side!”

The Missoulan reports that Missoula police are not treating this case as a hate crime, despite the anti-gay slurs, the gang-type attack, and the severity of the bruises Joseph received.  According to investigators, Joseph reported the attack at 4:30 a.m. Sunday morning after managing to get back to his home. At least one Montana lawmaker is taking this attack seriously.  Representative Ellie Hill, (D)-Missoula, said sexual orientation must now be added to the state’s legal code. “It’s time, regardless of what side of the aisle you sit on,” she said. “What occurred over the weekend in Missoula evidences it.” Rep. Hill pledged to introduce a bill to that effect in the 2013 session of the state legislature.

Missoula has an anti-bias statute on the books banning discrimination against gay people, but the state does not. Critics of the police say that any assault is a greater crime than a misdemeanor, and, in this case, indications are clear that the attackers assaulted their victim expressly because he said he was gay, and was seeking a place where other gay people congregated.  KAJ18.com says authorities are soft-pedaling this crime, justifying their attitude by pointing to the time Joseph reported the assault–three hours after it occurred.  They also say that his failure to call 911 at the time of the attack supports their misdemeanor decision.

Gay activists around the nation are ginning up pressure on local and state authorities, reminding them that hate crimes by their very nature leave victims terrified and disoriented.  Joseph had to get himself to the safety of his home despite his injuries, before he felt safe enough to call the police.  Instead of supporting a young man who was only looking to have a good time on his birthday, something straight people do all the time, the Missoula police seem to think the minimum of response is allowable for a gay person in their town. Back 2 Stonewall, a widely-read LGBTQ activist web site, responds, “We do not deserve to be second-class citizens…even in Missoula f***ing Montana!”

August 7, 2012 Posted by | Anti-LGBT hate crime, Back 2 Stonewall, Beatings and battery, gay bashing, gay men, GLBTQ, Hate Crimes, Heterosexism and homophobia, LGBTQ, Montana, Slurs and epithets, Social Justice Advocacy, Unsolved LGBT Crimes, Wipe Out Homophobia | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Gay New Jersey Man Beaten To Death; Plea Bargains for His Killers May Reduce Charges Drastically

Scott M. Patronick (1963-2011): “I wanted to grow old together with him,” his lover said.

Phillipsburg, New Jersey – The brutal 2011 murder of out New Jersey gay man Scott Patronick made news again as his alleged killers rejected another round of plea bargains to reduce the penalty for killing a queer. Patronick, 47, a popular and well-regarded chef at the Hilltop Café, was attacked by two men who beat and kicked him to death on February 28, 2011.  Patronick suffered a fractured skull, and was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Security video cameras caught the assault as it occurred, and the suspects who callously left Patronick for dead, Joshua Dalrymple, 27, and Nicholas Yerian, 24, were arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Patronick’s lover, Michael Joseph Bumbaca, 20, has no doubt that the murder was an anti-gay hate crime, though local police deny it.

Both Dalrymple and Yerian have bluffed the District Attorney twice now, most recently this very week rejecting a plea deal that would reduce the charges against them to aggravated manslaughter, according to the Express-Times: “The deals called for Dalrymple to spend 17 years in state prison and for Yerian to serve a 12-year prison sentence, with neither man being eligible for early release. Both would be ordered to pay restitution and would be barred from contacting the victim’s family.” Both men are shooting the dice for an even lower charge, counting on local amnesia and negativity about gay men to work in their favor.  Patronick’s family stated to the press that the penalties were not enough time to make up for the life of their son and brother. But no mention is made of Patronick’s partner, Michael Bumbaca.  They apparently had a problem with Patronick’s sexual orientation, and Bumbaca was an embarrassing reminder of who their loved one really was.  Bumbaca’s name was pointedly left out of the survivors in Scott’s online obituary.

In March 2011, Bumbaca gave an extensive interview to All Voices in which he said that his lover Scott straightforwardly admitted his sexual orientation, and was proud to be gay. When asked directly about the fatal attack, Bumbaca said, “It’s a hate crime.” He believes there may be a connection between Patronick’s murder and the testimony his lover gave in a 2006 gay bashing case of another victim, Bryan Wesselius.  Prosecutors failed to lock the assailant in that case away for any more than three years in state prison, and local residents were very aware of the role Patronick played in the trial. Everyone knew Patronick was plain-spoken and would not take an assault on gay people lightly. His restaurant manager, Scott R. Shafer, told All Voices that he would sorely miss the straightforward Patronick. “He was very opinionated, but he was just the nicest guy,” Schafer said. “If I was ever in a pinch, he’d be the first one to help. We won’t be able to replace him. I’ll need two people to replace him.” Bumbaca agreed about what a good guy he was. Scott enjoyed antiques, cooking, and his beagles. He and Patronick fell in love and had plans for the future. “I planned to grow old with him,” Bumbaca said.

Since a $770 paycheck was robbed from Patronick’s person by the suspects, prosecutors in Warren County want to leave any anti-gay bias out of the equation and call this a robbery gone bad. But broken-hearted Michael and the local LGBTQ community know differently. Gay murders don’t get much sympathy in Warren County, one of New Jersey’s mountain counties, located in the northwestern part of the state. Prosecutors like to plea things out, and move along. But people in Phillipsburg remember Scott.  In a moving remembrance on his obituary tribute page, a local woman wrote: “I did not know Scott very well at all. He was my waiter on Valentine’s Day and handed me a rose when my husband and I sat down. We saw an older woman dining by herself and told Scott that we would like to pay for her dinner… he smiled and said that it was his mother. When my husband went to the bathroom, Scott brought us the check and on the back, he wrote in beautiful handwriting that he took care of it and for us to have a wonderful Valentine’s Day. It was the nicest gesture of human kindness I’ve seen in a long time….”

August 3, 2012 Posted by | anti-LGBT hate crime murder, Beatings and battery, gay bashing, gay men, GLBTQ, Hate Crimes, Heterosexism and homophobia, License to Bully bill, New Jersey | , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Gay Couple Brutally Attacked in D.C.

Washington, D.C. – A gay couple was bashed by three men on the sidewalk near their home early on Sunday morning in NE D.C.  Michael Joel Hall (l), a popular yoga instructor in the District, and his partner, Michael Roike (r), were ambushed by three men, according to MYFOXDC.  The couple had been driven to their neighborhood at about 2 a.m. and were walking to their home on 3rd and T Streets NE when the attack materialized seemingly out of nowhere. Investigators say that the three bashers were yelling anti-gay slurs as they pressed their assault against the couple. Police are investigating the case as a probable anti-gay hate crime.

Both Hall and Roike were injured in the assault.  Hall’s injuries were by far the most severe, suffering a broken cheek bone and fractured face where one of the assailants struck him.  Roike’s mother says that the couple would surely have been killed if passers-by had not shouted at the attackers and rushed to the scene.  The thugs escaped with a cell phone belonging to one of the victims. Hall was rushed to Howard University Hospital where he underwent surgery to repair his shattered face on Monday.

Because Hall has no health insurance and lost his apartment in a recent fire, friends in the yoga community and Hall’s students have created a Facebook page, “Friends of Michael Joel Hall and Michael Roike,”  and established a fund to help defray his medical expenses. The response of the community has been heartening to the couple.  Cobalt/30 degrees is hosting a fundraiser for Hall on Thursday evening, and Flow Yoga in Logan Circle is hosting a “In the Name of Love” fundraiser on Friday night. The Facebook page has details about both these events and the MJH Fund on PayPal.

A local blog, dcist, reports that this hate crime attack is part of a disturbing pattern in the nation’s capital.  Numbers of anti-gay hate crimes have spiked alarmingly in recent months.  Of the 57 confirmed hate crime attacks in the District in 2011, 37 of them targeted LGBTQ people.  In March of this year, hundreds of members of the gay community and straight allies marched from Columbia Heights to Georgia Avenue to draw attention the issue and demand an end to the senseless violence.  As of this writing, there is no report of an arrest in the case.

July 24, 2012 Posted by | Anti-LGBT hate crime, Beatings and battery, gay bashing, gay men, GLBTQ, Hate Crime Statistics, Hate Crimes, Heterosexism and homophobia, LGBTQ, Metropolitan Police (D.C.), Slurs and epithets, Social Justice Advocacy, Unsolved LGBT Crimes, Vigils, Washington, D.C. | , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Gay Couple Brutally Attacked in D.C.

Gay Hate Crime in Nebraska Capital Draws Ire From Hundreds

Hundreds rally to protest alleged anti-gay hate crime at the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln. [Journal Star photo]

Lincoln, Nebraska – A woman’s report of a horrendous anti-gay hate crime has galvanized the progressive community in the Nebraska capital city to demand a stop to the violence.  Social media spread the news of a break-in at the woman’s Lincoln home on Sunday, drawing hundreds to the steps of the capitol building for a vigil in a show of support for all victims of LGBTQ hate crimes.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports that the woman was seized early Sunday morning in her home by three men in masks who stripped her, bound her hand and foot with zip ties, and proceeded to slice her skin all over her body. The victim told police that her attackers cut homophobic slurs into her flesh before splashing gasoline on the floor and setting it aflame.  As they fled the scene, the victim managed to flip and roll outside where her screams caught the attention of neighbors. Her name has not yet been released, and police are not yet speculating on a motive for the crime.

Police informed reporters for KVNO News that the victim was treated at a local hospital and released. The Lincoln LGBTQ community, who believe she was singled out because of her sexual orientation, has rallied to the victim’s support.  One local source, frustrated at the foot-dragging of the police on naming  hate crime as a motive, claims that the message, “We found you, Dyke!” spray painted in the basement of the victim’s home.

At the “Vigil Against Violence” Sunday night at the State Capitol, leaders of the LGBTQ and straight-allied community, already empowered by the recent Star City Pride Festival and a vigorous debate on the “Fairness Amendment” that would ban discrimination in housing and employment against LGBTQ people on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, came out to let their voices be heard in droves–over 300 by the start of the vigil, according to the Star Journal.  Tyler Richard, president of Outlinc, a group that supports lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Lincoln, called upon the community to support the investigation with calm and resolve.  “We are shocked and saddened by the report of an alleged hate crime involving a member of the LGBT community early Sunday morning,” Richard said. “Our hearts go out to the victim, her family and close friends. Many in our community are understandably experiencing a great deal of sadness, anger and confusion. We look to our entire community to pull together in this difficult time.”

No one has been arrested as of late Sunday night in connection with the crime.

July 23, 2012 Posted by | Anti-LGBT hate crime, Beatings and battery, GLBTQ, Hate Crimes, Heterosexism and homophobia, home-invasion, Lesbian women, LGBTQ, Nebraska, Outlinc, Slashing attacks, Slurs and epithets, Unsolved LGBT Crimes, Vigils | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Teen Lesbian Attacked “Just For Being Gay” in Louisville

Teenage Lesbian victim of brutal hate crime attack showing her split lip and knocked out teeth. Her jaw was broken in multiple places by three adult males yelling anti-gay epithets [WAVE 3 News image].

Louisville, Kentucky – A 16-year-old lesbian and her two young male friends were viciously attacked by men shouting anti-gay slurs as they beat the teeth out of the girl’s mouth.  Early on Tuesday morning, the young Hornback brothers, 13 and 15, who had accompanied their lesbian friend to a local store, desperately called their mother as the attack commenced.  They told their mother that a group of four “grown-ups” were harassing their friend for being gay, and then cut the call short when one of the men struck the girl. Ms. Andi Hornback told WAVE 3 News that she could hear one of her sons scream as the adult men knocked the young lesbian to the ground, broke her jaw, and repeatedly kicked her in the stomach as they yelled hatefully.  Police are now investigating the violence as a hate crime that has shattered the peace and calm of the Wyandotte Park community in Louisville.

One of Ms. Hornback’s sons suffered a concussion as he jumped in to rescue his friend. With her voice trembling from emotion, Ms. Hornback told reporters how she felt when she heard her child cry out in fear and pain.   “I can’t even describe it to you,” she said , “I’m getting ready to cry, hearing my child scream and know that they were hurt and they were scared and I couldn’t get there fast enough.”  EMS personnel and police were already on the scene by the time Ms. Hornback arrived.

The young lesbian who was the focus of the attack was lying on the pavement with blood gushing out of her mouth. Speaking on behalf of the girl’s family, Brenda Hickerson detailed her injuries for WCSH 6 News: “Her jaw is broken in several places and she has to have a plate put in her jaw. She has teeth knocked out of her mouth and she has scrapes and bruises.” Shaking with frustration and anger, Hickerson said, “She was on the ground with blood just pouring out of her face. These grown men put her on the ground, kicked her in her stomach, kicked her in her face and punched her in the face and kept going until a bystander yelled stop and called 911.”

The four adults in the group that attacked the teens included two white men, one African American man, and a woman whose race has not been identified in the press.  The Hornback boys say that the woman played no part in the attack on their lesbian friend.  Brenda Hickerson believes that the woman’s conscience will plague her until she comes forward.  Hickerson says she is convinced this was a vicious hate crime. “Otherwise, you are saying that this is right to hate,” she said, “and it’s just not right!” 

In an ironic twist, Louisville churches figure prominently in the background of this anti-lesbian attack.  The adults pressed their attack on the teenager in front of two Wyandotte Park area churches.  The pastor of St. James Church, a self-described non-denominational and evangelical congregation, has decried the crime.  According to other clergy, the young lesbian who was the focus of the attack is a member of a local Baptist Church that openly welcomes and affirms gays and lesbians.

Hickerson, wearing a rainbow PRIDE shirt in her television interviews, said she has no doubt as to why this attack was so brutal. “This was a hate crime,” Hickerson said, “There were hate slurs and this was not a robbery because they didn’t take anything from them.” She continued, “I think she was targeted for being a strong lesbian young girl.”

July 19, 2012 Posted by | Anti-LGBT hate crime, Beatings and battery, gay bashing, gay teens, GLBTQ, Hate Crimes, Heterosexism and homophobia, Kentucky, Lesbian teens, LGBTQ, Slurs and epithets, Social Justice Advocacy, Unsolved LGBT Crimes | , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Hate Charges Dropped Against East Texan

Burke Burnett, victim of gay bashing in Reno, Texas, shown soon after the Halloween Party attack.

Paris, Texas – Hate crimes charges were dropped against an East Texas man in the notoriously savage bashing of a gay man in Reno, a community in Lamar County, last Halloween weekend.  The Paris News reports that Daniel Shawn Martin, 33, arrested  along with two other suspects on November 1 for attacking 26-year old gay man, Burke Burnett on the night of October 30, 2011, is now free with all charges dropped. Martin contended that he was not present at the Halloween Party where Burnett was slashed and stabbed with a broken beer bottle, beaten, and then thrown bodily into a lit burn barrel while his assailants yelled anti-gay slurs.  The Lamar County District Attorney, Gary Young, announced that all charges have been dropped against Martin.

KETR Radio reports that several witnesses came forward to corroborate Martin’s claim that he was not at the Reno party when Burnett was brutalized.  Burnett himself affirmed that Martin was not a party to the assault that nearly cost him his life, leaving him with over 30 stitches and second-degree burns.

Two other suspects, James Mitchell Laster III and Mickey Smith, were found guilty of carrying out the homophobic attack, and are now serving prison terms.

July 6, 2012 Posted by | Anti-LGBT hate crime, Beatings and battery, gay bashing, gay men, GLBTQ, Hate Crimes, Heterosexism and homophobia, immolation, LGBTQ, Slashing attacks, Slurs and epithets, stabbings, Texas | , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Hate Charges Dropped Against East Texan

Lesbian Viciously Attacked at Memphis Bar

Jackie Lloyd, brutally attacked because of her sexual orientation in Memphis.

Memphis, Tennessee – A lesbian suffered a brutal beating Sunday, June 24 at a Memphis bar and restaurant while casually speaking with a former high school classmate, WMC-TV 5 reports. Jackie Lloyd told reporters that the attack which broke her nose in two places and left her face severely swollen came out of the blue.  “I think it has everything to do with my sexuality,” Lloyd said.

Brandon Hooper, 28, boyfriend of Lloyd’s classmate, charged across the patio of Celtic Crossing, shouting gay slurs.  According to Lloyd, Huffington Post reports the moment of the unprovoked violence: “This guy says you f**king dyke and slams me right in the nose and I fell back about three feet… he called me a f**king lesbian, [he said] ‘problem solved, you f**cking lesbian.'” Police apprehended Hooper and charged him with aggravated assault for the attack.  When questioned by the press about possible hate crimes charges in the case, the Memphis District Attorney said that such charges would have to come from the FBI. Lloyd says her contacts in the Memphis Police Department indicate that an FBI investigation into her case may be pending.

Lloyd says she had never met Hooper before the assault.  She believes that his homophobia triggered the brutality simply because she was speaking to Hooper’s girlfriend. Lloyd wants her chance to confront her attacker, and give him a piece of her mind.  “You know, I’d like to say to him I want to live a normal life just like everybody else,” Lloyd said to WMC-TV. “And what you did is terrible,” she added.

For Lloyd and the besieged Tennessee LGBTQ community, intolerance is an everyday fact of life. Right wing politicians in the legislature of the Volunteer State have tried to ban the use of the words “gay” and “lesbian” in Tennessee public schools (Don’t Say “Gay” Bill), worked to make bathrooms off limits to transgender persons (Bathroom Bill), and have attempted to protect bias driven speech against LGBTQ school students when the perpetrators claim a religious motivation (License to Bully Bill).

The attack against Lloyd marks the second grave anti-lesbian incident in recent weeks. Two teenage lesbian lovers were shot near Corpus Christi, Texas on June 10, leaving one girl dead and the other seriously wounded.

 

July 1, 2012 Posted by | Anti-LGBT hate crime, Beatings and battery, FBI, gay bashing, GLBTQ, Hate Crimes, Heterosexism and homophobia, Lesbian women, LGBTQ, Slurs and epithets, Tennessee | , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Teen Blinded In Anti-Gay Middle School Attack

Kardin Ulysse, 14, blinded in anti-gay bullying attack at a Bergen Beach middle school (New York Daily News photo).

Brooklyn, New York – A 14-year-old student was blinded in one eye in a brutal anti-gay attack at his middle school in Bergen Beach. The June 5 attack was part of a pattern of hate attacks against Kardin Ulysse, whose parents chose Roy H. Mann Junior High School for their son because they thought it was the best school in the area, according to the New York Daily News.  Now, his father Pierre says he knows they were wrong. In excellent reporting, the NYDN graphically presents the outrageous outcome of the brutal attack that has led to two surgeries on Kardin’s eye already:

“My son is very upset. He says, ‘Daddy, am I ever going to be able to see again?’ ” Pierre Ulysse said Monday.

His son, Kardin Ulysse, 14, has undergone two surgeries on his right eye since the June 5 beatdown at Roy H. Mann Junior High School in Bergen Beach. It is unclear whether the bullies’ multiple punches or the broken shards of lens from his eyeglasses caused the damage to his cornea.

“The doctor says he needs a transplant,” Pierre Ulysse said. “For me to send him to school with two eyes and come back with one eye is really absurd.

“I want the world to know about this,” he added.

Kardin, an eighth-grader, was set upon by a pair of seventh-graders who were calling him a “f—–g f—-t,” a “p—-,” a “transvestite” and “gay,” according to a Department of Education occurrence report.

The NYDN further reports that authorities are considering charging the attackers with a hate crime, given the heinous nature of the assault. Hate crimes are a felony in New York.  At present, because the attackers are minors, they are charged with misdemeanors in Family Court.

Instinct Magazine reports that the Ulysse family has hired an attorney, and plans to sue the city for $16 million.  His parents say they want the whole world to know what happened at the school to their son, so that the “madness” of anti-gay bullying will stop.

The horror and irony of this fiendish attack is that Kardin Ulysse’s assailants used his supposed gayness as a pretext for their brutality because homosexuality was the worst epithet they could think of, and their suspicion served as the fictional justification for their assault. There is no evidence or admission that young Ulysse is in fact gay. Instead, he must be presumed to be otherwise. The mere suspicion of weakness or effeminacy is deadly in middle school culture in the United States, and this utterly unjustified attack is one more evidence that anti-gay bullying is a bias crime, and deserves to be treated as such by law enforcement and the courts.

June 19, 2012 Posted by | Anti-LGBT hate crime, Beatings and battery, Bullying in schools, GLBTQ, Hate Crimes, Heterosexism and homophobia, LGBTQ, Mistaken as LGBT, New York, Slurs and epithets, U.S. Department of Education | , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments