Advocate: Antigay Attack Under Investigation in Ohio College Town

Antigay Attack Under Investigation in Ohio College Town

By Trudy Ring

 Michael Bustin

 

The story is here

Two Ohio men who were beaten while walking home from a drag show were apparently targeted because they’re gay, police say.

Michael Bustin, a student at Miami University in Oxford, was walking home Saturday with a friend, with whom he briefly held hands, when he heard someone yell a derogatory term, he told Cincinnati TV station WLWT. Then four men approached them, and one began beating Bustin’s friend.

“I got in the way of the two, saying we wanted to go home. We didn’t want any harm. Then I got sucker-punched twice in the face,” Bustin said. The attackers fled after some other students intervened.

Oxford police believe Bustin and his companion were attacked because they’re gay, and the police department is working on sketches of the suspects, the TV station reports. There has also been quick reaction from the university, which sent out a bulletin about the attack, and the dean contacted Bustin.

“It actually made me feel humbled that the university looked into my matter,” Bustin said. “I just want this to be a message. Just stop hate.”