OT: Gay bashing in NYC

[opinionista]

Singer Kevin Aviance Beaten in NYC

Sun Jun 11, 5:27 AM ET


A singer whose songs have topped the Billboard dance chart was attacked by a group yelling anti-gay slurs, and four people were arrested on hate-crime charges, police and his publicist said.

Kevin Aviance, 38, underwent surgery for a broken jaw after the attack Saturday, said his publicist, Len Evans. Police said the singer, whose song "Alive" hit the top of the chart in 2002, was in stable condition.

A group of six or seven men attacked Aviance early Saturday, and passers-by did not stop to help as they threw objects at him, Evans said.

Four people were arrested on charges of first-degree assault as a hate crime, police said. They were identified as Jarell Sears and Akino George, both 20; Gregory Archie, 18; and Gerard Johnson, 16.

Aviance performs in drag but was "dressed like a boy" when he was attacked, Evans said. He had planned to take part in next week's Gay Pride parade and festivities, but will now be unable to perform, the publicist

Other popular songs by the singer have included "Give It Up," released in 2004, and "Din Da Da," which topped the Billboard dance chart in 1997 http://entertainment.tv.yahoo.com/entnews/ap/20060611/115002882000.html

The worst part is that no one stopped to helped him. This is terrible and sad.

[YaadPyar]

 

[David]

Sad but true.    With kids carrying knives today (and guns) it is a scary thought to jump in and help anymore.  Of course if I was with 5 or 6 other people defending them, then there is strength in numbers and you may chase them away.

Maybe I've seen to many movies like "Pay it forward" and "Stand by me" where the good guy who jumps in to take a stand just ends up taking it in the stomach with a knife.   

Two more movies that I cried my eyes out at the end.

[Ellemeno]

Everything about this is sad, including how those boys are going to feel about having done this, when they face their own homosexuality down the road.

[gattaca]

Interestingly enough, when I was living abroad in Malaysia (an Islamic state, wihch, as you may know, has many strict taboos on a lot of 'social' interactions including homosexuality) I had friends there who were gay (one Chinese and one native Malay) and who were astonished to hear that violence against gay people is something we deal with in the United States on a regular basis - they thought, since Stonewall (my Chinese friend was educated at Wesleyan in the 70s), the US must be a mecca for gay people.
And despite the tighter social constraints in Malaysia, the thought of perpetrating acts of violence against gay people there was abhorrent.
Malaysians are a gentle people by and large and on balance, it was sad for me to contemplate how much more violent and intolerant American society can be to its members who do not fit the accepted social norms.

How would any of us handle an attack on one of our friends? Or a complete stranger?

[delalluvia]

What a vicious attack.

Notice the age of the attackers, young men, needing to prove their 'manliness'.     Where young men in groups have gotten the idea that ganging up against 1 person shows 'bravery' is a mystery. 

While it is not wise to interfere physically, nothing says a person can't stay at a distance, and yell threats back such as 'The police are coming/call 9-11/leave him alone etc" at the least letting the attackers know their acts are being witnessed.

[Lumière]

Very sad indeed. 

[Meryl]

While it is not wise to interfere physically, nothing says a person can't stay at a distance, and yell threats back such as 'The police are coming/call 9-11/leave him alone etc" at the least letting the attackers know their acts are being witnessed.

I'm hoping that that was indeed the case.  After all, someone let the police know to come and arrest those guys.  Reporters tend to make those generalizations a little too quickly IMO.  And David is right, just jumping into a situation like that could be more foolhardy than brave.

[Ellemeno]

And David is right, just jumping into a situation like that could be more foolhardy than brave.

Unless you are our lovely Sheyne.  She defended a woman from three men who were harrassing her.  Here in San Francisco for the Castro adventure, I have been very happy to stay close to our new friend Abe, from the Dave Cullen board as we walk the streets.  He is a big guy.