As promised, I’ve attached my most recent print column to this blog post concerning the gay bashing that happened this weekend. There was an error in the print version. The assault took place shortly after Pulse closed after it’s Saturday Amped Night on Saturday September 5th. It should read 4am, not 4pm – that was my error.
As an update, I tried to pressure my friend into going into the police station and giving a statement but he hasn’t returned any of my messages. I guess in the end it’s his choice. No matter how much I would like to make him do it and wish I had a car to pick him up and take him to a police station myself, I can’t do that.
So what next…
If you or someone you know is the victim of a hate crime or gay bashing, report it to the police. Your report will help the police devote more resources to protecting gays and lesbians and will hopefully mean more police officers patrolling the village when the clubs let out at night. You would also be surprised to know which buildings in the city have cameras that record the street. By reporting assaults to police, you may be able to help identify the gay basher even if you don’t remember the details of your assault.
Leave me your thoughts if you’ve got time to comment here.
COCKED & LOADED with Sean Horlor
I thought this end of summer column would start a different way, but here goes.
One of my best friends got gay bashed on September 5th. He was walking
down Thurlow at Davie around 4am with a friend of his. Surprise
surprise. A guy ran across the street, called him a fag and sucker
punched him in the face and beat him after he fell down on the sidewalk.
End result: four stiches above the right eye.
So all of this is problematic enough, but here’s what’s pissing me off.
My friend’s friend didn’t call the police. At the hospital, while he
was being treated by doctors and nurses, no one called in an assault on
his behalf. So maybe my friend might have been in no state to call and,
being the guy that he is, probably wouldn’t have asked that anyone to
call in on his behalf.
Still, who’s responsible for what in this scenario?
I would hope that physicians and health care professionals at that
hospital, being in a position of authority and responsibility, would
realize that they should be talking to their patient, discovering what
exactly happened and making the call for him since he wasn’t capable of
doing it himself. I know the health care system is overtaxed, but get
real!
I don’t want to talk about my friend’s friend because I don’t think
I could even understand what motivated him to do absolutely nothing.
Getting the phone call from my friend the day after to tell me what
happened, I tried to convince him to call the police and at least
report what happened. I don’t think he did. Which makes me wonder: how
many times does this have to happen? How many other guys and girls put
up with this and say nothing? 911 takes one call and you`re connected
to the people we are paying via taxes to protect us. Why aren’t people
calling?
Should’ve I called the police a day later and asked them to go to my friend’s condo?
And what’s next for my friend? It’s hard enough sometimes for people to
come out in the first place. Is he going to be afraid to be himself
now? Will it result in a return to being semi-closeted? I don’t know.
The same night he got gaybashed, I walked past a group of seven
guys harassing two girls in a Davie Street sex shop. They had followed
the girls from a restaurant downtown. I assume the girls weren’t
interested, but the guys were standing on the street curb, shouting
things that I will leave to your imagination. On Davie Street. Thank
god and baby jesus our XXX shops are open late and that there’s a
convenience store at Davie and Bute.
This is my neighbourhood. I love living in the West End, but what the fuck is this?
We have world-class entertainment on our strip. The same Saturday
as the bashing, Vancouver`s DJ Dreaddy and Mexico`s DJ Isaac Escalante
were playing at Pulse to a packed crowd. Clubs like Celebrities and
Pulse regularly draw mixed crowds, especially on the weekend, and with
that comes straight guys who are there to hit on girls out to have a
good time in the “gay bar”.
It`s a compliment, in a way, that our promoters are drawing people
from all over our city for their events. We have it good, Vancouver. Yet, as dramatic as it sounds, at what cost though?
On Labour Day Sunday, I went sailing with CruiseyT for their final
cruise of the summer. Despite the rain and my friends’ urge to make
raining men jokes, I had a great time. CruiseyT is definitely one of
the brightest light’s in Vancouver’s summer social calendar. The boat
let us all out after 8pm at the foot of Denman, in the twighlight. I
walked up the street wondering. Let’s just leave it at that.
Big Rogers also threw their Blame It On Rio party at Gorgomish on
Labour Day Sunday. It’s taken a year and some change, but I’ve finally
gone to one of their parties…and had a wicked awesome time. But
still. Leave for home in the wee hours of the morning on Granville
Street and who knows what’s going to happen to you?
I’m devoting Cocked & Loaded to this subject this week. Write a
letter or email to the editor and tell us what you think. Or write me
at vancouvergayblog@gmail.com ot visit www.xtra.ca/blog/vancouver with your opinion…and for my event picks over the next two weeks.
My next column will be devoted to hilarity and social sauciness. I promise.
Why you can trust Xtra
