On March 27th, Damien Futch and his friend stopped at a McDonalds in the West Village in NYC after working their shift at the The Pink Tea Cup an upscale, southern-style comfort food restaurant just blocks away.
Damien noticed two men staring at them. Damien and his friend ordered their food and waited and Damien stepped outside to make a phone call in an effort to avoid the tension in the restaurant and remove myself from the situation.
The two two men stepped out after him and asked if I Damien had a problem.. Then, all of a sudden the one of the men hit me on the right side of my face causing him to stumble into oncoming traffic and was then bashed three more times to the face Luckily, Damien was able to flee his attackers and get to a hospital. The police were called, a report was filed, and it including information about the gay slurs used against him in the attack.
Police are still looking for the two gay bashers involved.
“I thought I was safe in the city I loved but apparently wearing fluorescent colored clothing and pink shoelaces really bother some fucking assholes to blind side me and hit me,” Damien wrote on his Facebook page.
Most crimes are crimes of opportunity, including hate crimes. If an opportunity presents itself where the thug can perpetrate, that’s when crimes occur. So PLEASE everyone be careful out there. Especially now, in this climate of intolerance and hate that’s being promoted by the far Christian Right now is not the time to take chances. Don’t stop being who you are just BE CAREFUL and if all possible PROTECT YOURSELF and OTHERS by WHATEVER MEANS NECESSARY