A Gay Bashing @ Stonewall ? In 2010

By JAMIE SCHRAM, DAVID K. LI and DAN MANGAN

Somebody give these thugs a history lesson.

Two young men from Staten Island were arrested Sunday for attacking a man in the bathroom of the Manhattan gay-rights landmark Stonewall Inn after asking if he was "gay," authorities said today.

Hours before that attack in the gay-friendly West Village, several other men viciously attacked two men for kissing and hugging inn the heavily gay neighborhood of Chelsea, according to authorities.
Both attacks are being treated as anti-gay bias incidents, police said.

In the Stonewall incident early Sunday morning, a 34-year-old man was standing at a urinal of the Christopher Street bar when a young man approached him and asked if he was gay, law-enforcement sources said.
The man laughed, and replied, "This is the Stonewall, it's a gay bar," sources said.
The other men then asked for a dollar, and then $20 dollar when the victim refused to give him any money. At that point the man and another young man in the bathroom then pounced on the victim, punching him and tackling him."We don't like gay bars, and we don't piss next to f---ts," the thug said.

The victim fought back and the three men spilled out into the main bar area. The two thugs fled, with the man's boyfriend and bar staff in hot pursuit.



Cops later arrested the two men: Matthew Francis, 21, and 17-year-old Christopher Orlando, both of Staten Island. They were awaiting arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court.
The Stonewall Inn was the site of a 1969 riot that began when patrons fought back during a police raid -- the incident is considered the catalyst for the gay-rights movement.
In the other incident, a 20-year-old named Andrew Jackson and several other unidentified men allegedly attacked two men who who had been hugging and kissing each other good-bye at the corner of 9th Avenue and W. 25th Street in Chelsea, yelling "Go home f---ts, this is our neighborhood," according to authorities.
Jackson allegedly picked up a garbage can and struck one of the victims in the head.
Jackson was awaiting arraignment today on assault as a hate crime and other charges in Manhattan court.
Thanks to the post.