ChuckD
The Gay Lord of Freestyle
GAY-BASH STATS RISE
Hate crimes against gays shot up 32 percent this year from 2004, with a host of bashings marring the city's image of tolerance.
Homophobes committed 19 bias attacks against gays through last week, up from 13 incidents over the same period last year, cops said.
Hate crimes based on race, religion and ethnicity remained unchanged or went down, according to police statistics.
Overall, bias attacks — including assault, harassment, menacing and property crimes — dropped from 137 to 127, the statistics show.
But two anti-gay beatings in the last month and the scrawling of hate-spewing graffiti across the city were among a spate of ugly homophobic incidents.
The attacks could include the murder of Rashawn Brazell, a 20-year-old gay African-American from Brooklyn whose dismembered body was found in a subway tunnel Feb. 14.
Brazell's supporters believe his slaying, still being investigated by cops, was sparked by gay hatred.
Among the attacks:
* A thug slugged a 30-year-old California film producer in the mouth last Sunday in the East Village after shouting an anti-gay slur.
* A Staten Island man upset the borough's first gay pride parade on June 4 by hollering anti-gay remarks and knocking the hats off two female sax players.
* A man was punched in the face in Washington Heights May 27 after his assailant uttered gay-hating remarks. Another victim was beaten by two men in Bay Ridge in March.
* Anti-gay slurs were found scrawled on buildings in Crown Heights, Baychester and Morningside Heights.
Openly gay state Sen. Thomas Duane (D-Manhattan) said the controversy over same-sex marriages and other issues involving gays and lesbians may have contributed to the increase in attacks.
"Usually, the spikes have to do with visibility and the gay community being in the news," he said.
Duane also blamed Mayor Bloomberg for rejecting gay marriages and vetoing a City Council measure aimed at protecting public school kids from bias attacks.
"If the mayor had said we're going to start marrying gay people in New York City, that would have been very helpful," said Duane.
"Instead, he sent a very confused message. He said that 'while I personally support same-sex marriage, I'm not going to allow it in New York.' "
Hate crimes against gays shot up 32 percent this year from 2004, with a host of bashings marring the city's image of tolerance.
Homophobes committed 19 bias attacks against gays through last week, up from 13 incidents over the same period last year, cops said.
Hate crimes based on race, religion and ethnicity remained unchanged or went down, according to police statistics.
Overall, bias attacks — including assault, harassment, menacing and property crimes — dropped from 137 to 127, the statistics show.
But two anti-gay beatings in the last month and the scrawling of hate-spewing graffiti across the city were among a spate of ugly homophobic incidents.
The attacks could include the murder of Rashawn Brazell, a 20-year-old gay African-American from Brooklyn whose dismembered body was found in a subway tunnel Feb. 14.
Brazell's supporters believe his slaying, still being investigated by cops, was sparked by gay hatred.
Among the attacks:
* A thug slugged a 30-year-old California film producer in the mouth last Sunday in the East Village after shouting an anti-gay slur.
* A Staten Island man upset the borough's first gay pride parade on June 4 by hollering anti-gay remarks and knocking the hats off two female sax players.
* A man was punched in the face in Washington Heights May 27 after his assailant uttered gay-hating remarks. Another victim was beaten by two men in Bay Ridge in March.
* Anti-gay slurs were found scrawled on buildings in Crown Heights, Baychester and Morningside Heights.
Openly gay state Sen. Thomas Duane (D-Manhattan) said the controversy over same-sex marriages and other issues involving gays and lesbians may have contributed to the increase in attacks.
"Usually, the spikes have to do with visibility and the gay community being in the news," he said.
Duane also blamed Mayor Bloomberg for rejecting gay marriages and vetoing a City Council measure aimed at protecting public school kids from bias attacks.
"If the mayor had said we're going to start marrying gay people in New York City, that would have been very helpful," said Duane.
"Instead, he sent a very confused message. He said that 'while I personally support same-sex marriage, I'm not going to allow it in New York.' "
