When 26-year-old Burke Burnett and three gay friends attended a party Saturday night in Reno, Texas, they didn’t expect to be greeted by comments like, “These faggots don’t deserve to be here. Somebody needs to get them out of there.”
The group left, but Burnett hadn’t heard the remarks and returned some hours later.
It was then that one attacker punched Burnett in his left eye and another stabbed him hard in the back with a broken beer bottle.
As his assailants yelled “pussy-ass faggot,” “gay bitch,” “cocksucking punk,” and other insults, Burnett was stabbed a second time, deep in his right forearm, and thrown onto a lit barrel.
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Burnett’s female friends distracted the four assailants while Burnett ran off to the parking lot. Later, a friend drove him to the Sulphur Springs hospital, where he received 30 stitches and treatment for third-degree burns and severe bruises.
Burnett says he knows his attackers, one of them personally, and he’s certain they had intended to kill him. “I’m scared for my life. I’m scared to go home,” he told the Dallas Voice. “These guys have nothing to lose.”
Reno is a small, conservative suburb of Paris, TX, with a population of only 3,086 people. Burnett’s gay friends worry that local authorities may ignore or downgrade the attack, despite Texas’ tough new hate-crime law. And, so far, the mainstream press has yet to pick up the story.
“I intend to make sure the Police Department follows through with this, and that the local press covers it,” Burnett’s friend Chivas Clem told the Voice. “When I saw him, I vomited because he looked so bad — and I cried.”
We’re counting on the authorities to pursue this case to its fullest extent and the community to stand up against such horrific attacks. We’re waiting.
Source: Dallas Voice
christopher di spirito
Texas is a lovely place. What can you say about a state that tossed out Ann Richard for George W. Bush and elected Rick Perry three times? It’s a shithole.
doug105
Take a look Taylor(A-list Dallas) this is a real hate crime.
Just get a couple of your rethug friends to beat and stab you and you can fake this too.
andy
The man is lucky to have Chivas as a friend. I hope these men are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law.
christopher di spirito
If his attackers are football darlings, they will not be prosecuted.
In Texas, football darlings are a protected class. Much like cops are a protected class.
Lucifer Arnold
Shame!!!
Conrad Honicker
My heart wrenches for Burnett and for my brothers and sisters all across the South where violent attacks like this are a reality. Hopefully he can get the care and protection he needs.
CBRad
@Conrad Honicker: Meaning….you don’t wrench for gays beaten and murdered in NYC and Detroit..??
Gigi
@CBRad: I’m sure thst’s NOT what he meant.
CBRad
@Gigi: Then ….what DID he mean?
cody
as much as I hate guns, I think the LGBT community need to embrace the 2nd amendment.
PopSnap
@CBRad
What it’s like he’s saying: “My heart goes out to all those women who have been victims of domestic violence.”
What it’s like you’re saying: “Oh, so you don’t care about RAPE VICTIMS?”
CBRad
@PopSnap: Maybe. But I think it’s more like he’s saying, “My heart goes out to all women who were victims of domestic violence….in South Dakota”, even if the incidents of domestic abuse are much higher in North Dakota. It’s strange phrasing, that also suggests a certain tribalism (like “I only worry about MY own people”)
greg
@CBRad: quit hate mongering. the south has a specific context that is absent in the north; at least in the north there are many more resources for the lgbt community to access than down south in dip shit reno with its slavering hate mongering neanderthals. at least in the north (NYC) you can find 280, 000 lgbt individuals, many of whom are doctors, lawyers, football players, cops, judges, etc…people in power who can help you and make systemic changes….in texas they are proud of being atavistic knuckle dragging lynch mobs.
CBRad
@greg: I dunno. Far more gay bashings in NYC reported on this blog and others. You’re also making some roundabout racist assumptions that Af. Ams. in the south are somehow more violently homophobic than in northern cities.
Thomas Cherry
im from midlothian texas which is a similar small town like reno texas. My heart goes out to this young man and his friends. Homophobia is verry much a reality in texas and the reason why its displayed in the media to be a safe supposed somewhat liberal place is because of politics aka – (dinero). People get away with stuff like this in texas all the time here.
it saddens me that even the vulgar language that was shouted to the other boys of the group is acceptable even in the schools. many of our teachers will just turn there heads the other way and act like it never happened. And then when a victim trys to defend hiself he is often occussed as the proble maker.
I can only hope for change in texas, my heart goes out to these boys!
Lunatic Fringe
@CBRad: Reported yes- it’s good that gay bashings are actually reported in NYC. Think of all those in the South that go unreported because law enforcement often does not give a shit. Also, NYC has much greater population density than many Southern cities.
I have to contradict the notion that there are no resources for LGBTQ in the South, I’m a North Carolinian ( I live in Raeligh) and we have pride festivals, an active and welcoming LGBT center office and activism on college campuses. The South is not as bad as you may think- we’re not all bigots and dinosaurs. If an anti-gay incident occurs we tend to band together as a community (despite the proposed same-sex marriage ban). I only wish that it were easier to meet LGBTQ individuals in the streets.
scallywag
In fact offers one of Burt’s friend, Austin Holloman:
“We don’t want people thinking this is OK in this area. We plan on being here forever.”
Which is a good thing and maybe a bad thing, because eventually all them gays are going to be wiped out or maybe just maybe all them hate mongering criminals will eventually find themselves locked up and forced to re consider not just other people’s identity but their very own.
http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2011/11/being-a-homo-in-texas-is-now-an-ill-advised-idea/
Dallas David
A minor point — Reno, Texas, is about 40 miles NW of Fort Worth, and 30 miles away from “White Settlement.”
It’s still a good place to avoid. Let Satan and his hate-worshipers have it . . .
Catie
I simply wanted to state that not all Texans- not even all the residents of Reno and Paris- are bigots. We have enough to make us look like it (check out Brandon McClelland’s case), but some of us are good, loving, open-minded people who simply want to believe that human beings are inherently good. Things like this make me ashamed of where I come from, and saddened at the state of the world in general. Here’s hoping that justice is served, be it via the legal system or the hand of God.
Natasha
Actually Reno is around 140 miles northeast of fort worth.
CBRad
@Catie: Why should you be ashamed? I’m not ashamed of being a NYC native just because gangstas and criminals are always assaulting gays here.
CBRad
@Lunatic Fringe: Well I’m another guy who believes it’s hard to take anybody from Raleigh/Durham (or any of NC) seriously. Your kings are Jesse Helms and John Edwards. Your queen is Crystal Mangum. It’s a nonsensical state.
Cathy
Re: homophobia in North/South. I don’t think it’s about the region; Southerners are not more homophobic than Northerners. I think it’s about things like religious affiliation, depth of ‘faithfulness’ to those churches, and especially, the degree of education of the community. Ignorance, lack of exposure to ordinary GLBT people, and small-minded religious persecution fuel these attacks. My opinion. I’ve lived in Texas, New Jersey, Chicago and found racist, sexist, and homophobic people in all three locales. I now live in Canada where despite the legality of gay marriage, poorly educated folks who don’t know glbt people and are members of repressive churches still choose to be homophobic as opposed to gay people who have no choice but to be the men and women they were created to be.
Brent Wilson
This is so disgusting and wrong. IT’S UNACCEPTABLE.
parisian
@christopher di spirito: Actually his attackers were not any sort of “darlings” they are all thugs with criminal backgrounds.
CBRad
@parisian: No, no, no! You can’t say that! The gay activists in North Carolina and elsewhere say you have to assume the attackers HAVE to be local white heterosexual football players protected by their Texas community, and without criminal records (because it was always covered up). And the victim didn’t know who they were. And, if that’s not the case, you better go along with pretending it is or ELSE….you’re not being a good gay-gay and you’re a self-hating traitor!!
AlexK
@CBRad: Grow up, no need for your ilk here. You know exactly what other comments people posted and you are just blowing each out of proportion. Here are the facts, lgbt members face far worse statistically than lgbt of the north. South have far few resources to access, the law is 92% not on their side (proven fact from Time Magazine Poll in conjunction with Huffington Post), and 85% of beatings of lgbt individuals in the south never get reported whereas only 28% are not reported in the north (also proven fact). Stop being a troll and move along.
TASTEY GOODIES
THE DALLAS- FT. WORTH AREA HAS A CHURCH ON EVERY BLOCK, SEN RICK PUCKY (PERRY) HATES STRIPPERS AND HAD THE SIN TAX (TITTY TAX) ON ALL STRIP CLUBS FORCING CLUB OWNERS AND PATRONS 2 FOOT THE BILL. THIS STATE IS A RED GOP LOVIN, A WOMEN AND GLBT HATING OPPRESSIVE STATE. 4 YRS AGO MY EX-GF AND I WERE HOLDING HANDS AT WALMART IN AUSTIN, TX AND PEOPLE WERE GAWKING AND SAYING THINGS LIKE ” I THINK THEY ARE LESBIANS” AND “ARE THOSE A COUPLE OF DYKES?” AUSTIN IS THE MOST LAID BACK, FUN AND PROGRESSIVE CITY IN TX. BUT I STILL ENCOUNTERED LESBOPHOBIA IN AUSTIN. AUSTIN FOR CRISS SAKE’S. YET IN CORPUS CHRISTI A LOT OF OUT LESBIANS HOLDING HANDS AND I HAVE SEEN NOTHING HAPPEN YET. THANK GOODNESS. MAYBE IN SOME PLACES THINGS R ACTUALLY GETTING BETTER.
CBRad
@AlexK: Not a proven fact…AT ALL. Now you scram, troll. Just because the facts don’t fit the silly little gay fantasies of your ilk, with your pigeonholing every state and everyone and everything, is no reason to get mad at me. (Actually, I guess that IS the reason gays like you get mad at me- I’m not going to play gay-gay-pretend).
Wet My Whistle
This story doesn’t add up. How did he not hear the anti-gay comments that were made the first time he was there? Why didn’t his friends tell him about it? Why did he go back? This was not a random attack. There is more to this story. It will all come out. The attackers will not be charged with a hate crime.
Sceth
@CBRad: Your points are pretty much right on, but the people arguing with you aren’t quite trolls. Your delivery is a little acerbic, and they’re a tad sensitive today, so they’ll just keep attacking. Forgive their mindfog and move on.
Catie
@CBRad: valid point. I should be proud of my roots, and I am. I just hate to see things like this happen in a place that once seemed a haven.
@Wet My Whistle: true as well. If, in fact, the personal relationships between the attacker and victim hold more history than meets the eye, I hope the truth comes out. That said, hate crime or not, no one deserves this treatment.
Catie
@Catie: *attackerS* must clarify that.
Conrad Honicker
@CBRad:
I don’t think this forum is appropriate for this kind of divisive regionalism. This blog is about an act of violence that happened in the South.
christopher di spirito
No Hate Crime Charges For 2 Arrested In Texas Anti-Gay Beating And Burning
http://networkedblogs.com/pmgWp
Can’t we just nuke this damned place or give Texas back to Mexico?
equalityboy81
The criminals sounds like people out of the movie the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Lucifer
What people see in others they see in themselves.
will smith
I think it is a shame that people like the ones that bet that young man just for being gay is allowed to walk around free. my heart go’s out to him and his family. As a Texan I understand how this are here so i know where i can be gay and where i cant and im not saying i am ashamed of being gay its just we cant change the fact we live in a redneck state. And there are homophobic assholes that will jump at the chance to show how tuff they think they are by betting a gay guy.
declanto
Texas is toxic. Its a great state to be “FROM”. It is Redneck Heaven. I wouldn’t travel in Texas without a weapon. All of you who think this is regional bashing just haven’t experienced the very real physical and psychological danger of being “Out” in TX.
dewey
@cbRad – clearly, you miss the point of this conversation completely and merely like the sound of your own voice. We get it, you like to display your intellectual prowess while complicating the issue, sparking an unecessary debate and then sitting back to revel in the attention your sad shit-stirring comments evoke. The only statement you have made here that made any sense whatsoever was your comment that nobody deserves to be treated this way. STAY on that topic and you will realize that the minutae you are spewing here is not only irrelevent, it makes you look like either a homophobe, or a self-hating gay.
JR
@chritopher di spirito….do you live in Texas? If not then you have no right calling my state a shithole. look into your own backyard before throwing trash into mine.
janey
@Dallas David: That’s not entirely correct. There are two “Reno, TX” locations. There is one where you mention, and it’s the one that now has the ZIP code. But there is a Reno, TX that’s just east of Paris, TX on Hwy 82. I have been to both of them many many many times.
This upsets me because I thought that Paris was more of a laid back place too. Quiet, lots of older folks… but there are ignorant types everywhere. This isn’t isolated to Texas by any means…
Alicia
so why is it that all the males think its hot for women to be sexually involved but when 2 men are sexually involved its the most disgusting thing out there. its absolutely ridiculous that this is even happening in our world!! let people live their lives as they feel fit, and if you don’t like it, STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM THEM!! its their choice not yours, and they do nothing to affect the way you live your life…. so just accept it!!! this is the 21st century, not the 1800’s, and the world is in for a lot more changes then what it has already gone through. thank god for the one person who cared for anothers life to take them to the hospital!! they should be commended, and as for the 2 that were arrested,beaten, stabbed and thrown into a fire pit should be their punishment!!
greg
CBRad is just starving for attention. wow….hey buddy, its okay, you matter.
CBRad
@greg: I know I do. I’ve beaten up queer-bashers. In NYC. Not the south.
CBRad
@JR: Notice how nobody ever talks about Martin Salinas leaving Texas for a visit to England, and getting gaybashed (murdered) there? Because that doesn’t fit in with Gay-Pretend time.
CBRad
@Sceth: Sorry to be “acerbic.” The hate-on-Texas agenda makes me like that. Thnx.
D.Valentine
These Men, no, these animals should be slaughted vaingloriously.
Punishment shouldn’t be welcomed by anyone, give them something to lose.
I would gladly tie the noose for these discriminating pigs.
This isn’t a bias opinion, i feel the same way about men who enage in Guerilla Prostituion, which ideally is a combination of Molestation and Peadophilia.
Mandy
They were too cowardly to try and attack the group, so instead they waited until it was four on one. Ironically, they probably did it for an ego boost.
SteveBmke
With Concealed Carry now the law here in Wisconsin, the number of “Well Armed Left” Gays, should give pause to the bashers that might try this here. I would have no problem going into to court to defend my decision to place a full clip of ammo into the legs and arms of these attackers. Letting them think about their deeds while their wounds heal in a jail hospital. It is time fellow gays start taking the actions to protect themselves and others of the community, because as Our rights and visibility increases, so will these idiots.