Damian Furtch was walking home from work Sunday, March 27, when two men called him a “fucking faggot,” then beat him so hard he was forced into oncoming Sixth Avenue traffic. Police have yet to locate the suspects that landed Furtch in the hospital with two black eyes, stitches, and a broken nose that will need to be broken again by doctors to heal properly.
The police are calling this “a possible anti-gay hate crime,” but I refuse to be so delicate. You be the judge of this unprovoked attack against Damian Furtch, a 26-year old man who was minding his own business and got beat up.
Here’s thew video:
Calling Furtch’s attack “upsetting†and “deeply disappointing,†because it happened “in a neighborhood where the LGBT civil rights movement was really born,” NYC City Council Speaker Christine Quinn spoke to local NYC radio station 1010 WINS and said, “Some people still think that hate crimes are kind of a joke in New York City, that it’s just some type of adult bullying that doesn’t have any consequences and we want people to know that that is simply not true.†Quinn added, “We are not going to allow you to attack people because of who they are or who they think you are.â€
And yet, this is one of a growing number of anti-gay hate crimes in New York City.
To name just a few, Anthony Collao (March, 2011, passed away two weeks ago), Barie Shortell (February 2011), Robert Jenkins (February, 2011, murdered), 2 unnamed men (October 11, 2010), Ben Carver (October 3, 2010), Jack Price (October 2009), unnamed victim (May 2009).
As I said, this is just an incomplete list. Sadly, there are more, and most likely many more never reported.
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