Gay man assaulted in Netherlands by man with "Moroccan features"
Chris Crain:
I was walking through central Amsterdam with my boyfriend back to our hotel. People were still milling about on the sidewalks from Friday night's revelry. We were only blocks from the most popular gay areas; and we were holding hands.
As we passed two men standing on the side of the street, one of them deliberately spat on us, mainly hitting me in the face. Without saying a word, we stood our ground. We stopped, turned around, and asked why. The man, who looked in his 20s, had Moroccan features and spoke with a heavy accent, murmured something about "fucking fags."
Within seconds, the two somehow turned into seven — and five of them were ganging up on me, probably because at 6-foot-7 I'm a good bit bigger than my boyfriend. It seemed like every direction I turned, I got another punch to the face, and when they kicked me to the ground, time seemed to stop. My heart still races as I write about it now. It felt like the situation had spiraled completely out of my control.
Then just as quickly as it began, it was over. I was standing up on my own, and our attackers were fleeing. There had been dozens of people on the streetcorner, but none of them had acted or even yelled anything. My boyfriend had escaped his attackers and had come to my aid, and that finally convinced the others to run.
I was covered in blood, mostly from my nose, but I got lucky: no broken bones, no damage to my vision, just some very nasty bruises and a lot to think about.
News and Blogosphere:
Editor of Gay Newspaper Chain Beaten in Hate Crime
A Bashing in Amsterdam
Suspected Muslims celebrate Queen's Day bashing Queens
posted by Adam Lawson @ 11:34 AM
12 comments
12 Comments:
Violence is violence and of course cannot be tolerated.
Is it clear that violence directed against gays in the Netherlands is predominantly or even disproportionately committed by Muslims? One could say it is not clear from this article.
How can two guys walking down the street be recognized as gays? Here is the answer:
"and we were holding hands"
Personally, seeing this makes me uncomfortable, and I don't think I am alone in feeling this way. I think considering reality and behaving appropriately is always a good idea, and so homosexuals can do themselves a favor by being more discrete, e.g. by refraining from public displays of affection. Getting back to reality, homosexuality is aberrant, and many people find it repugnant, so is this really asking all that much? I still remember how two gay men caused everyone else, including me and a couple of families with children, to leave a public seating area outside the Louvre in Paris by their repeated and very public handholding, cooing, and kissing. Which quite honestly I found disgusting.
Nonetheless like I said it should not be seen or used as a provocation, or an excuse for violence.
FOR EVERY TEN PEOPLE IN THE PLANET ONE IS HOMOSEXUAL. WE HAVE TO GET USED TO A NATURAL LIFE THAT GOD OFFER. LET THEM HUG, KISS, AND EXPRESS LOVE IN PUBLIC. WE EVENTUALLY ARE TAKING THE NEXT STEP TO HUMAN EVOLUTION. ALL RELIGIONS ARE GOING TO HAVE TO CHANGE THE VIEW ABOUT GAYS, A POSITIVE VIEW. GAYS ARE EXPRESSING NATURAL LOVE FOR EACH OTHER. THAT IS EVERYBODY SHOULD BE DOING IN SET OF WAR.
FOR EVERY TEN PEOPLE IN THE PLANET ONE IS HOMOSEXUAL
Wrong.
Quote: "The percentage of gay males is estimated to be around 3%, this probability can go up to 5% for males with several older brothers, say researchers from Brock University, St. Catharines, Canada."
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/healthnews.php?newsid=45962
I am a 38 year old gay man and I find that PDA either gay or straight is inappropriate, do I think anyone should be attacked for it?? Absolutely NOT, I see PDA by heterosexual couples all the time, and it is tolerated, I do not think that gays should be any different, these two men were not insighting anything, just walking down the street. Grow up, if you find it so repugnant, stay in the privacy of your own home, then you are at least able to control what you see.
I am doing a project and I am pro for homosexuality. I am not homo sexual but it disturbs me that people can be so cruel if you are. I would like to ask if I may use this story for my project.
Disturbing anti-gay comments by people who appear educated. Then again decency to human beings isn't taught in the educational system.
I can only guess that the homophobic comments above were made by the same type of person that stood and did nothing as this innocent man and his partner were attacked.
There is no words to express how deeply sorry I am for what happened. I am openly gay here in the U.S. and think that holding hands isn't a big gesture of pda and openly do it with my boyfriend. I've been so lucky as to only get dirty looks and rude comments. I even attend the gay pride parade in the city every year.I can't believe the comment on here that talks about closeting yourself and hiding who you are. I'm in college and studying to be a psychology major and one of the huge things they stress is that bottling up your emotions or self identity will do nothing but damage. You should accept yourself for who you are and be proud of it.We are all humans and deserved to be treated like that. As for the men who did this, delight in the fact that they will never truly be happy and that it will all come back to them. It always does no matter what people say. I know, no matter what they've been taught, they know what they did is wrong and they will have to live with it for the rest of their lives. I've come to learn in life that the only way to truly move on is to forgive and go on. I know something like this you could never forget but don't dwell on it. I don't know about there but here you can easily obtain a concealed weapon permit and carry a gun around with you for self defense. Our state is behind on getting rid of laws like that, others think its horrible to own guns but i'm sure you wouldn't agree with them after this happened. Either way its just wrong. I think mainly whats kept me from getting attacked around here since we have so many rednecks is the fact that I opt to ignore the rude comments and they go on about their business once they have given their opinion and I do as well. Pride isn't always a good thing in such cases as this. You see, they know your gay, what more can you do? Standing your ground isn't always worth it. But your stubborn pride was hurt and I know the feeling but also know from experience that it doesn't hurt anything to walk on past them and act like nothing has happened.
First of all, to ANONYMOUS who isn't man enough to even post his name:
So as gay men you want us to HIDE who we are in public just to make you feel more comfortable?? Gimme a break!! We feel love just like I assume you do...We should be able to be who we are!
These people who are doing the bashing, are doing it mainly out of fear of their own sexuality..If you are comfortable in your OWN skin and sexuality, you wouldn't need to bash others!
People who are against gay PDA--if you saw a man and a woman holding hands in public, would you find it disturbing or gross? If you find something as small as holding hands disturbing, you're a bit... conservative, or odd.
LOVE IS NOT GROSS. Love is beautiful, and it doesn't matter what's between who's legs. Now if a couple, gay or straight, is making out in public and they look like they're about to go at it, THEN that's a bit too much. If it's just a small sweet kiss or hand holding or hugging, who cares? Honestly, get OVER yourselves.
If it makes you "uncomfortable", then kindly sod off and mind your own damned business.
Anyway... That's really awful that happened to you and your boyfriend. Did you press charges?
It's cool that you guys are brave enough to show "PDA", but it's really sad that you were beaten up just for holding someone's hand. Really sad.
If I was in your position I'd get a gun license ASAP or at least a pocket knife for self-protection.
Society sucks. Just what the hell makes someone think their hate is more valuable than someone's love?
This makes me so angry. I sincerely don't understand why people are so afraid of homosexuality. I don't know what else to say. It really saddens me that all we can do is protest when people are anti-gay, but it seems like whatever we say, these assholes never listen.
It makes me feel a bit hopeless, really. And I'm a heterosexual woman, I can't even begin to imagine how hard it must be to be gay sometimes.
And you'd think that people living in Amsterdam have seen gay people before. What, do they spit at EVERY SINGLE gay person they see there? Must be tiring.
muslim people,please leave this country...
you are destroying everything we worked so hard for.i want to feel free and to kiss my guy when and where i want.
imagine that you,a hetero guy are not allowed to touch your girl in public because someone doesn`t like it!
how will you feel then,huh?
or you just think that you are better than gay people?
we have the same feelings,you know!
:`(
I honestly think what is to blame here is the societal view of religion. The bible said it is an abomination for a man to lie with another man, there is the story of Sodom and Gomorrah,and whatever any other religious book in the world has to offer. People should stop to think that neither god, Jesus, nor any other deity wrote any part of the bible or the other various books. They are simply based on human opinion. Society needs to wake up and realize that it's not about who you love, just that you have love. Books like these should be burned as they preach nothing but hate for peoples differences. The Qur'an itself says that by killing non believers you will be assured a place in heaven. I find it disgusting that man has taken the idea of god and turned it into a message of hate. Wake up people realize what the world has been telling you.
NOH8
Post a Comment
<< Home