411: Hate Crimes Happening All too Frequently

The brutal beating of Kevin Aviance certainly captured the attention of the media and rightly so. Tricia Romano's great article in the Voice this week reveals that gay bashing is still happening more frequently than people realize. Even the jovial Murray Hill has been the victim of name calling and slurs while walking down Avenue A. What the hell? It's bad enough the East Village has become bridge and tunnel central; we have to endure the senseless meatheads thumping their chests while the Paris Hilton clones from Jersey barf in the street, but when we don't feel safe in a neighborhood we cultivated things have taken a bad turn.

There was a rally last Saturday in support of Aviance and several more events planned in the coming weeks. We need to remain vigilant until these hate crimes are halted.