Two New Hate Crimes, Too Close To Home

As if the string of young gay suicides and small-town, small-minded homophobic epithets weren't enough to kick off the fall season, now we hear of two terrifying tales that couldn't get any closer to home.
A gay man was assaulted and robbed in the men's bathroom at Stonewall Inn, famed gay bar in Manhattan's West Village, a space that has been considered a safe haven for LGBTQ people since the historically notorious riots of '69. And yet another targeted act of violence against gays occurred in the other predominantly gay neighborhood of Chelsea on Friday.
Two men, Matthew Francis, 21, and Christopher Orlando, 17, of Staten Island, reportedly backed the victim into the bathroom at Stonewall and would not let him leave, beating him and telling him they did not like gay people after the victim identified himself as such. No word on whether the assailants knew they had entered a gay bar or whether other patrons witnessed anything unusual before the attack. The men are being charged with assault and attempted robbery as a hate crime.
On Friday night, two men (one of whom has been identified as fellow Chelsea resident Andrew Jackson, 20) attacked a gay couple that were kissing on the corner of 25th Street and 9th Avenue. The couple was hit with a garbage can lid while being attacked with gay slurs. Jackson will be charged with hate crime assault. The other assailant remains at large.
In response to the recent hate crimes, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said in a statement, "The hateful few who committed these acts do not represent New Yorkers and our community will not be cowed by acts of violence."
Though Council Speaker may well be correct that these incidences could be isolated, one can't help but feel a pattern emerging. Are we experiencing an isolated wave of backlash for our recent gains (or because Mercury is in retrograde or for some similarly incongruent reason), or are we taking one gargantuan step backwards in the plight for equal rights? As our visibility increases, is it possible that those on the fringes are getting closer to realizing their own sexual diversity and lashing out in typical, overcompensatory fashion? Or are we being threatened with a regressive, draconian era of increased displays of homophobia?
Photo credit: punxsutawneyphil

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