Two gay soldiers attacked at fast food restaurant
Tue. July 5, 2011 11:00 AM by GoPride.com News Staff
Colorado Springs, Colo. -
Two gay soldiers and a friend were beaten up at a fast food restaurant in Colorado Springs, Colo. on Saturday night.
The attack highlighted the still tenuous situation for gays and lesbians in the military; the victims did not want their identities made public in case their superiors found out.
The two soldiers said they had been at a club earlier in the evening and left with a friend who's a dancer.
That man was still wearing his go-go costume when they were approached at a taco joint by a group of young men.
"A lot of racial slurs, A lot of hatred slurs towards like homosexuals," one of the victims told Denver television station KRDO.
The victims said the verbal attacks quickly turned into physical violence.
"I ended up getting kicked in the head and in the ribs several times. I have six bruised ribs. And my right eye was completely swollen shut for about nine or 10 hours," a victim said.
Both soldiers told KRDO that most of the men in their unit know they're gay, but that their superiors might not.
Even though the Pentagon is in the process of ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," many troops still feel that a revelation about their sexuality could ruin their careers.
The attack highlighted the still tenuous situation for gays and lesbians in the military; the victims did not want their identities made public in case their superiors found out.
The two soldiers said they had been at a club earlier in the evening and left with a friend who's a dancer.
That man was still wearing his go-go costume when they were approached at a taco joint by a group of young men.
"A lot of racial slurs, A lot of hatred slurs towards like homosexuals," one of the victims told Denver television station KRDO.
The victims said the verbal attacks quickly turned into physical violence.
"I ended up getting kicked in the head and in the ribs several times. I have six bruised ribs. And my right eye was completely swollen shut for about nine or 10 hours," a victim said.
Both soldiers told KRDO that most of the men in their unit know they're gay, but that their superiors might not.
Even though the Pentagon is in the process of ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," many troops still feel that a revelation about their sexuality could ruin their careers.