The Traill County Sheriff’s Office is investigating after a man says he was attacked outside a bar in Hillsboro, N.D., for being gay.
William Lamb says he was attacked on July 6 while having drinks at A & R Bar in Hillsboro with his husband, Daniel Maldonado, and a group of friends.
The couple claims that a group of people hurled anti-gay slurs at them throughout the course of the night.
At midnight, Lamb says he went outside to smoke a cigarette, when a person called him a slur. When he turned around to face the person, his attacker knocked him out.When he regained consciousness, he realized he was in pain.
“I woke up with some pain in my left leg. My face hurt, my teeth hurt,” he told the Grand Forks Herald.
Maldonado, who was inside during the attack, later found his husband lying on the ground with a broken ankle, a broken nose, and possible damage to his teeth.
Lamb says he has an upcoming dentist appointment to check his teeth. He’s already undergone one surgery, and is using crutches to walk and move about.
He was slated to return to the doctor on Wednesday to learn if he needs additional surgery to reconnect the tendons in his leg that were damaged in the attack.
Traill County Sheriff Steve Hunt told the Herald that his office has been investigating the attack, but no charges have been filed yet.
Even if charges are filed, because North Dakota’s hate crimes law does not explicitly protect LGBTQ people, the attack cannot be charged as a bias-motivated crime.
Both Lamb and Maldonado say they expect a backlash from the small town of about 1,600 people for talking publicly about their experience, but want to highlight the homophobia they’ve encountered.
“I don’t feel safe in the community,” Maldonado says.
“You can’t even hold your husband’s or your girlfriend’s hand without getting assaulted,” Lamb said of the situation LGBTQ people face. “It’s ridiculous, honestly.”
A California man has pleaded not guilty to a brutal attack that left a 57-year-old gay man in a coma after objecting to the victim’s Halloween costume.
Sean Wesley Payton Jr., 24, of Sacramento, is accused of assaulting Alvin Prasad around 1:30 a.m. on November 1.
Prasad had been out at Badlands, an LGBTQ nightclub, with his adult daughter, Andrea, on Halloween night. He was dressed in an 18th-century coat and hat, along with knee-high platform boots, a pink wig, and large white wings strapped to his back.
A Texas grand jury has indicted 57-year-old Sigfredo Ceja Alvarez in connection with the June 1 killing of actor Jonathan Joss. Police say Alvarez confronted Joss and his husband as they were picking up mail at their San Antonio home, which had burned down in February.
The 59-year-old Joss -- whose legal name was Jonathan Joss Gonzales -- was best known for his roles on the animated series King of the Hill and the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation.
The Bexar County District Attorney’s Office said in a Nov. 19 statement that Ceja Alvarez "is charged with murder, the most serious charge applicable under Texas law." The office added that, because the case is still pending, no further details could be released.
Ihab Mustafa El Mahmoud was arrested in West Palm Beach after allegedly trying to run down members of an LGBTQ running group during a meet-up in a local park. The Florida man faces two counts of aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony and one count of reckless driving.
El Mahmoud could also face hate crime charges or bias enhancements for allegedly targeting the group because of their sexual orientation.
According to West Palm Beach police, El Mahmoud allegedly took offense at what he perceived as a comment about his sexual orientation when a runner asked if he was at Howard Park for the "Night Runners West Palm Beach" group's regular meet-up.
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