Young Couple Recounts The Terror Of Being Attacked By Anti-Gay Mob Near Madison Square Garden
That couple, Nick Porto and Kevin Atkins, recounts the horror of having a mob close in on them on May 5 in a heartbreaking "op-doc" in The
The two men were holding hands when Porto, 27, began hearing people shouting "faggots" from behind them. "Look at your pants, look at your jeans, look at what you're wearing," Porto heard one of them say.
The men, who appeared to be in their 20s, then slowly started walking toward them. "They were all closing in, and they were all wearing Knicks jerseys," Porto said. Somebody punched him in the nose, and his glasses went flying. The group of men punched and kicked them and ran away before the police came. Atkins, 22, says he was "shell shocked."
By the end of May, there were 29 reported incidents of anti-gay hate crimes in New York for the year — a 70% increase since the same time last year. One of the victims, 32-year-old Mark Carson, was shot in the face in the West Village, where the
The Supreme Court struck down America's biggest anti-gay law just a few weeks later. "We have marriage now! Yay, yay! Fight's over," Porto said sarcastically in The Times video.
It's difficult to comprehend a moment in time where many gays have the right to marry but still can't walk down the street in one of America's most gay-friendly cities without being afraid. Some experts say the rights gays have gained in recent years — the end of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, marriage equality, and a general cultural acceptance — have sparked a backlash.
"What I think is going on with respect to anti-gay hatred in this country is, it is ratcheting up in direct proportion to the losses that the religious right" have suffered, The Southern Poverty Law Center's Mark Potok previously told Business Insider. "I think what we are seeing is kind of a desperate anger coming out of a lot of the Christian right groups."
- Colon cancer rates are rising in young people. If you have two symptoms you should get a colonoscopy, a GI oncologist says.
- I spent $2,000 for 7 nights in a 179-square-foot room on one of the world's largest cruise ships. Take a look inside my cabin.
- An Ambani disruption in OTT: At just ₹1 per day, you can now enjoy ad-free content on JioCinema
- In second consecutive week of decline, forex kitty drops $2.28 bn to $640.33 bn
- SBI Life Q4 profit rises 4% to ₹811 crore
- IMD predicts severe heatwave conditions over East, South Peninsular India for next five days
- COVID lockdown-related school disruptions will continue to worsen students’ exam results into the 2030s: study
- India legend Yuvraj Singh named ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 ambassador
- JNK India IPO allotment date
- JioCinema New Plans
- Realme Narzo 70 Launched
- Apple Let Loose event
- Elon Musk Apology
- RIL cash flows
- Charlie Munger
- Feedbank IPO allotment
- Tata IPO allotment
- Most generous retirement plans
- Broadcom lays off
- Cibil Score vs Cibil Report
- Birla and Bajaj in top Richest
- Nestle Sept 2023 report
- India Equity Market