(Illustration: Daniel Puerto)
June 6, 2018 By Tara Law
LGBT activists and their allies will gather in Jackson Heights tonight to protest an assault on a LGBT man hours after the Queens Pride Parade and Festival on Sunday.
The protest, which will convene outside of the Jackson Heights Post Office at 78-02 37th Ave. at 6 p.m., will include representatives from at least 12 organizations, including pro-immigrant group Make the Road New York, Stonewall Democratic Club of New York City, and pride parade organizing group Queens Pride.
A 25-year-old LGBT man was repeatedly punched in the face on Sunday by two men who spewed homophobic insults at him. The Queens Pride Parade had marched past the location a few hours before, celebrating LGBT openness, unity and self-expression.
Daniel Puerto, a 26-year-old LGBT activist who grew up in Jackson Heights and currently lives in East Elmhurst, decided to organize the protest shortly after learning about the attack.
“Although this month is about ‘pride,’ it’s also about standing up for what’s right,” said Puerto, referring to the annual celebration of LGBT rights in June. “We want to make sure that people know that this community will not tolerate hate.”
Puerto said that as a gay child growing up in Jackson Heights in the 90s, it was powerful for him to live in a neighborhood where many adults were openly LGBT.
“Our neighborhood is so vibrant and diverse,” said Puerto, adding that the assault does not fit into his image of the neighborhood. “To me, that’s not what Jackson Heights is.”
Puerto said that the event tonight will also express opposition to Monday’s U.S. Supreme Court Decision, which ruled that a Colorado baker can refuse to make gay couples wedding cakes.
Puerto said that the event will also merge with the New York branch of the “National Day of Action: Justice for Roxsana” protest.
The national protest is mobilizing in response to the death of Roxsana Hernandez, a transgender woman who died in ICE custody in New Mexico. The protest was originally going to take place outside ICE headquarters at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan, but will now join the Jackson Heights protest.
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13 Comments
Was it a gay on gay attack ?
Because that happens also.
Yes, that does happen too. But if Brandon (the teacher) is honest and accurate in his report it sounds like a straight on gay assault (if they called him “fag-ot” before punching him).
At least we did not have to listen to Danny Dromm. This event did nothing but allow the same lame group of big mouths to entertain themselves. Funny that the police are never asked to speak as that is the support needed to curb any violence in the neighborhood.
One lunatic speaker (female) was trying to blame the “bigot in the White House” for….these two black men who assaulted Brandon ??? Huh ?
MJJ- Facts actually related to Trump: Manafort has been accused of funneling millions of dollars through overseas shell corporations, and spending the cash on extravagant luxuries, like fancy rugs and over one-million dollars in men’s clothing. Former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about conversations with Russia’s ambassador and disclosed that he is cooperating with the special counsel’s office.Carter Page former foreign-policy adviser to Donald Trump during his 2016 Presidential election campaign attracted the attention of the FBI in 2013 when a Russian spy either tried to recruit him was successful in recruiting him.
All of that might or might not be true. Also might or might not be true that I’m a fan of Trump. But blaming him in any way for this assault is totally ridiculous.
Everything is Trump’s fault. We lived in a euthopia before him. Do. Not. Break. With. The. Narrative.
Must. Believe. That. Trump. Even. Responsible. For. Orlando. Pulse Massacre.
MJJ-
Proverbs 10:12
Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs.
Proverbs 10:18 Whoever conceals hatred with lying lips and spreads slander is a fool.
>euthopia
Have you noticed most Trumpeters can’t even spell basic words?
I was in taco bell, the guy that got punched was drunk, and was trying to grind on this tall black kid.
Its BS how one sided the story can be
Even if that’s true, it doesn’t give him the right to beat someone to the point where they are unconscious. That’s not self-defense, it’s hate.
And I hope they plan to speak about the attack that happened on the E train platform , the guy that got his jaw broken by the 2 black teens.