Meanwhile, The Stonewall Inn Let Gay Bashing Suspect Christopher Orlando, 17, Into The Bar
Matthew Francis, 21, and Christopher Orlando, 17 (pictured, right), the Staten Island men accused of attacking Benjamin Carver (left) in The Stonewall Inn’s bathroom, are pointing the finger at each other in who’s to blame for Sunday’s gay bashing. That, and their defensive family members say Carver — who visited the bar with his boyfriend for the first time that night, because of its historic place in history — being gay had nothing to do with the assault, despite allegations the men asked Carver if he was gay and telling him, “Don’t pee next to me, faggot.” (Says Orlando’s father Don: “We don’t hate anyone here.” Francis’ girlfriend insists: “Where’s the hate? This is not a hate crime. He has a sister who is a lesbian.” Says the lesbian sister: “My brother isn’t the only one at fault here. There is a lot more to this story.”) Also: How did a 17-year-old get into Stonewall? While the suspects face hate crime and attempted robbery charges (for demanding cash from Carver, which precipitated the brawl), maybe Chi Chiz isn’t the only Christopher Street gay bar about to face problems with its liquor license. [photos: NYDN]
Stonewall Inn needs to take responsibility for the type of clientele it allows to enter. Whether they’re bad types or underage, there is no excuse for it. It doesn’t cost much to hire a doorman and have him check ID’s etc.
Get your act together, Stonewall Inn.
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it’s also telling that the kids were together in the bathroom. at minimum, it suggests that they were uptight about gay men and may have stuck together out of nervousness. but i suspect their intention was to lie in wait for a guy to enter by himself so they could assault or mug him.
this probably won’t make it to the courtroom, and if it did the kids won’t testify. but if they did take the stand, i hope the assistant DA asks why they went to the bathroom together, if they make a habit of going with a friend, and whether they went to take a peek of each other’s dick. those staten island boys would definitely lose their cool and say something homophobic, which would support a showing of criminal intent.
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Did the evil little brat that obviously can’t think for himself and must follow his equally stupid mentor get served an alcholic drink? I doubt it considering they had to insult, beat and attempt to rob a gay man. That says a lot about who the Stonewall Bar is serving and it is the same in countless bars across this country. I can walk into many a bar with a 5 year old and order them a coca cola. No problem from anyone and no threat of closure or loss of liquor license. It happens all the time all over the place. The bartender did not serve them a drink did he? This sounds like discrimination and a lousy attempt of a creepy attorney sidestepping and changing the subject. I guess if they can plant the seed that alcohol was the reason for the violent behavior, that somehow diminishes the penalty or compensates the alleged criminals in some twisted logic out here in the ether of heterosexual hegemony.
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Sometimes homophobes have gay/lesbian relatives, just b/c they would not harm their relative for being gay/lesbian doesn’t mean they wouldn’t do so to some stranger who is.