November 5, 2013
3 Ore. Gay Men Attacked on Halloween in Alleged Hate Crime
Jason St. Amand READ TIME: 1 MIN.
Three men from Oregon say they were physically and verbally assaulted Halloween night because they are gay and were dressed in drag, reports KATU, an ABC-affiliated station for Portland, Ore.
The friends, Justin Miller, Joey Malone and Curtis Hughes, say they were celebrating Halloween in downtown Portland early Friday at 2 a.m. when a group of five men started hurling anti-gay slurs towards them and later attacked the trio.
The attackers allegedly punched the men and dragged them by their hair.
"I was in shock. I felt my tooth go into my tongue and I spit it out onto the ground," Malone, who was dressed up as Snow White, told KATU. He added that in order defend himself, he used his heels and used them as weapons.
"I kicked off my heels...and I used them as weapons. I was going to defend myself no matter what," Malone said.
The trio received help by a passing cyclist and the attackers ran off. Nevertheless, the friends were left covered in blood, scratched and bruised as a result of the brutal beating.
The men have filed a police report but doubt their suspects will be caught. Hundreds of people have shown the men support and many have donated money to help pay for the costs for Malone's tooth. KATU reports a dentist has donated her time and services to help Malone with a temporary fix.
The men say that they're not going to let the attackers change who they are.
"Not even for a second," Malone said.
