New York City Say They Won’t Tolerate Homophobic Attacks Following Beating Of Gay Man In Brooklyn

Following an attack on a 22 year old gay man in the Carroll Gardens section of Brooklyn by five men, New York city officials have spoken of their concern, with openly lesbian City Council Speaker Christine Quinn saying:

“I was appalled and sickened to learn of last weeks anti-LGBT hate crime in Carroll Gardens. New York City’s greatest strength is our diversity. All New Yorkers should be free to walk our streets without fear of being attacked for who they are or who they are perceived to be.”

“The victim of last weeks attack was simply walking on the street when he was beaten by a group of men while being called anti-gay epithets. This is outrageous and unacceptable. We thank the NYPD for their swift response to this case, and urge the alleged perpetrators to turn themselves in immediately. They and any other bigots need to know that the NYPD responds in full force to any and all hate crimes.”

Taking place at around 8.00pm on March 2nd,  the attack saw the five men shout homophobic slurs at the man whilst beating him, leaving him with a head laceration and bruises that required hospital treatment. Whilst the attack has been met with a prompt action by both the NYPD and the City Council, the New York area has seen a number of anti-gay attacks over the last few years with one of the worse being the killing of Ecuadorian immigrant Jose Sucuzhañay in December 2008 who was attacked because the attackers had  mistakenly thought he was gay.

Responding to the latest attack, The Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Campaign spoke of a need to make it very clear such attacks would not be condoned saying:

“In a world as diverse as ours, we cannot tolerate violence based on actual or perceived identity, because if we do we are all vulnerable,”