Two gay men victims of hate crime in Austin, TX

Matt Morgan and Emmanuel Winston went to the gay bar Oilcan Harry’s in Austin, TX, Friday night to celebrate the start of their spring softball season.  They left the bar at 2:30 a.m., walked a few blocks, and then were attacked from behind by four men.  During the altercations, the attackers used several anti-gay slurs.

Stories like this scare me and infuriate me.  They scare me, because this could happen to me or my friends.  I’ve been to bars near this bar in Austin.  Although the incidents are rare and you never expect yourself to be attacked while you walk to your car or in a bar that gets raided (as happened last year in Fort Worth, TX, and Atlanta, GA), it can and does happen.

These stories infuriate me, because the intolerance is so strong.  And even still, it was just over a month ago, during the Prop 8 case that the anti-gay contingent argued that they were worried about their own safety as witnesses against gay rights and that the gay community does not really face the discrimination it claims.

Emmanuel Winston described the incident to Queerty: “At one point there were three men on me, kicking and punching my face. I don’t think these men expected us to fight back like we did, but my friend and I are fairly athletic men. When we were able to get the men of us and face them that is when one of the men called out to us calling us fags.”

He closed with a powerful statement: “The reason why I’m writing to you is because this needs to change. We live in 2010 and yet are still plagued with the ignorance and fear of others. A clear message needs to be sent that this is not o.k. I’ve been overwhelmed with the stories of other men and women who have also been targets of hate crime violence and at the time didn’t have the platform to speak. I am speaking out in behalf of future generations of gay men and women and hope that they never have to go through an experience like mine.”

Here is the news segment from KXAN, Austin’s NBC Affiliate:

Emmanuel Winston, gay softball, hate crimes, KXAN, Matt Morgan, NBC, Queerty