Edmonton police investigate attack on gay man as hate crime

BY NATASHA BARSOTTI – The Edmonton Journal reports that police are investigating an attack on a University of Alberta student as a possible hate crime.

According to the Journal, Chevi Rabbit was walking near campus July 19 when three men in a car pulled up and allegedly started yelling homophobic slurs at him.

One of the men allegedly got out of the car and pinned the student to the ground in a headlock. Rabbit was cut on his hand, sustained bruises to his knees, and was robbed of his iPhone.

Several people rushed to Rabbit’s assistance, and the men fled in a silver Acura with a spoiler, the report notes.

Detectives with the hate-crimes unit say they are investigating the assault because Rabbit was “targeted due to his sexual orientation.”

This was the second time in a week that the men aimed homophobic slurs at him, Rabbit alleged.

Rabbit told the Journal, “I’m openly gay. I don’t go around pronouncing it, but I’m very feminine. I’m a regular gay guy, but I’ve never had a problem in Edmonton. It was just so publicly done and in a heavily populated area.”

There have been no arrests so far.

Natasha Barsotti is originally from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. She had high aspirations of representing her country in Olympic Games sprint events, but after a while the firing of the starting gun proved too much for her nerves. So she went off to university instead. Her first professional love has always been journalism. After pursuing a Master of Journalism at UBC , she began freelancing at Xtra West — now Xtra Vancouver — in 2006, becoming a full-time reporter there in 2008.

Keep Reading

Trans issues didn’t doom the Democrats

OPINION: The Republicans won ending on a giant anti-trans note, but Democrats ultimately failed to communicate on class

Xtra Explains: Trans girls and sports

Debunking some of the biggest myths around trans girls and fairness in sports

How ‘mature minor’ laws let trans kids make their own decisions

Canadian law lets some youth make medical or legal decisions for themselves, but how does it work?

To combat transphobia, we need to engage with the people who spread it

OPINION: opening up a dialogue with those we disagree with is key if we want to achieve widespread social change