Gay bashers batter New York drag star
Author: Jonty Skrufff
Friday, June 16, 2006
Manhattan clubbing icon and Billboard chart-topping dance artist Kevin Aviance was viciously beaten last weekend as he left a gay bar in the East Village. The imposing performance artist, who was reportedly dressed far less flamboyantly than usual, was targeted by at least four thugs aged between 16 and 20, who chased him up 1st Avenue screaming ‘kill the faggot’, before kicking him unconscious when they caught up to him at 14th Street.
During the assault, Aviance sustained a broken jaw, fractured neck and fractured knee and may now be unable to perform at New York’s upcoming Pride celebrations for which he’d been preparing.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg branded the attack a ‘disgrace”’ while City Council speaker Christine Quinn criticised passers-by who did nothing as Aviance was attacked.
"When New Yorkers see a victim of a crime, they have a responsibility to pick up the phone and call 911," she told the Washington Post. "We can't ever go back to the days of people just closing their windows when they hear someone in trouble."
Skrufff US contributor Larry Tee said he was alarmed though unsurprised by the incident because of America’s current conservative political climate.
"When the right uses gay marriage as a way to distract people from the war, I always know that fanatics are going to think of gay people as being another species," Larry told Skrufff. "It is extra alarming when an attack likes this happens in New York City. This situation plays up a great fear of mine that if I were attacked, that no-one would help."
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