Raw Story

When Gay Marriage Won’t Kill You, It Might Hurt You

By Laura Meckler February 15, 2017 12:03:01In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling that legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states, it’s easy to forget that the gay community’s history of violence and harassment has also shaped how the public sees and treats the LGBT community.

In fact, one of the most chilling facts in this latest news story is that some of the people most responsible for keeping people in the closet were gay men who were not only targeted but also violently assaulted.

The story, “Who was the victim of a gay sex crime?,” from The Associated Press, includes a fascinating look at how many gay men were victimized by homophobic attacks in the 1990s and 2000s.

The AP also notes that in some cases, these attacks were actually perpetrated by members of the gay and transgender community themselves.

According to a report from The Advocate, one man was assaulted in his home in the mid-1990s, and he claims that he was sexually assaulted by a neighbor’s friend who also was gay.

The friend was able to get away because he knew the victim was an undercover police officer who was watching him.

When a woman told police that she had been sexually assaulted on a bus in the early 1990s, she was arrested and charged with felony sexual assault.

After an investigation, she confessed to the assault and was charged with a misdemeanor for making false statements.

The victim was also charged with making false information to law enforcement.

The Advocate also noted that another gay man who was attacked by his ex-girlfriend in 1999 said he had been “sexually assaulted” by two men in his apartment and that the woman told him that the attack was consensual and he had not committed any crime.

“I’m glad that it didn’t happen to me, because I would have never had a normal life,” he told the AP.