New York City is historically known for its diversity in cultures and religions. It is also known for its iconic Greenwich Village, where same-sex couples are widely accepted and are free to hold hands on Christopher St. while being open about their sexuality. But a recent string of deadly hate crimes against homosexuals has put NYC’s reputation of acceptance in jeopardy.
Late last Friday night, a gunman used homophobic slurs against a gay couple in Greenwich Village, before shooting one of the men in the face at point-blank range, instantly killing him.
Police say 33-year-old Elliot Morales was urinating outside a swanky Greenwich Village restaurant, when he realized patrons inside could see him. Believing someone was calling the cops, Morales went inside and told the bartender and manager, “If you call the police, I’ll shoot you.” Morales then shouted homophobic slurs and opened his sweatshirt to reveal a shoulder holster with a revolver.
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| Marc Carson |
Morales left and encountered 32-year-old Marc Carson and a companion on the street. “Look at these fa*gots,” he said in response to the boots, cut-off shorts and tank tops Carson and his friend were wearing. “What are you, gay wrestlers?”
Morales and 2 other men followed Carson and his companion for a few blocks, then cornered them, saying “Do you want to die here?” That is when Morales pulled out his silver Taurus .38-caliber revolver and pulled the trigger, killing Carson on the street corner.
Friday’s violence was just one in a series of recent bias attacks on gay men in New York City. Last week, a 35-year-old man was beaten up by an anti-gay attacker after leaving a Greenwich Village bar. On May 10th, 2 men entering a pool hall in midtown Manhattan were beaten by a group shouting homophobic slurs. And on May 5th, a man and his partner were beaten near Madison Square Garden following a NY Knicks basketball game, after a group of men hurled anti-gay slurs at them too.
“I’ve never had a feeling like this before in the city,” one of the victims explained. “I didn’t know that it’s not over, that this sort of stuff still happens.”
Realizing anti-gay sentiment is spiraling out of control, New York State Sen. Brad Hoylman called on New Yorkers “to unite against hate and gun violence,” while State Assemblywoman Deborah Glick declared that “New York is not open for bigotry.”
New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who is hoping to become the city’s first openly gay mayor, reminded residents of a time in New York when hate crimes were common — when 2 people of the same gender could not walk down the street arm in arm without fear of violence and harassment.
“We refuse to go back to that time,” Quinn said regarding the deadly attacks. “This kind of shocking and senseless violence, so deeply rooted in hate, has no place in a city whose greatest strength will always be its diversity.”
This story is certainly a tragedy and a sad reminder that despite the significant progress that *We* as a people and a nation have made there is still much more work to be done.
I also see it as another wake-up call to THIS American reality……
Even as the actual numbers of bigots and racists seem to be dwindling by the day the number of *headcases* out there ..people who are truly in need of serious mental health treatment…seems to be growing by the day. Many of them already fill our jails and prisons but sadly only AFTER they've committed a tremendous amount of damage and harm.