An gay man in Irondale, Alabama, was physically assaulted after his assailant mistook him for a woman.
On January 5, Richie Covington was walking to the store when a man gave him a catcall. When the stranger realized Covington was a man, things turned ugly.
“He was like, ‘Oh my God, you’re a fucking faggot,'” said Covington, who admits he usually ignores such taunts. “I was like ‘Yeah and what of it, motherfucker?’ And I just kept going.”
That’s when the man attacked Covington, leaving him with a black eye and swollen nose. Covington says he’s faced ridicule, harassment and violence since returning to the South. “If they don’t like gay people, they don’t like transgender people, that’s their prerogative,” he says. “but when it gets to the point of hurting another person that’s where I have a problem with it.”
It’s not clear if police have located the assailant. In any case, Alabama’s hate-crime laws don’t include protections for the LGBT community. Progressive lawmakers have been working to amend the statute, but getting sexual orientation or gender expression added to existing hate-crime laws is an uphill battle. “[There’s] too much opposition with people who do not understand being gay is not something you choose,” says Rep. Patricia Todd.
Because the attack was not a federal offense, federal hate-crime laws like the Matthew Shepard Act do not apply.
erasure25
Where all these supposed gun-toting “good Samaritans” we are told about by the gun lobby? There are already enough guns for almost every American and I would venture to say that The South has a lot of guns. So where are all these good Samaritans stopping crime with their guns? I guess the danger would be they would shoot the transgendered person for “sexually taunting” the straight guy.
sweetbrandigirl2004
Maybe it’s just me but it just doesn’t seem smart to move to a place were you known people are not going to like you and put yourself in a place of harm. I mean yes people should be able to live wer they want in a perfect world but since we don’t live in a perfect world why put yourself in harms way knowing it could get you killed….it’s just not wise to poke a bear with a stick it’s like asking it to eat you IMO
” Covington says he’s faced ridicule, harassment and violence since returning to the South. “
demetreus
Day drag rule #1; (Which she broke)
Miss thing needs to start carrying a switch blade comb in her purse if she is going to run go around looking like that. Especially down south.
2eo
@erasure25: They don’t exist, they’re too busy stockpiling their weapons and r@ping children and collecting yet more guns to murder children.
@sweetbrandigirl2004:
@demetreus:
What’s with the apologist rhetoric?, it makes you look really, really dimwitted.
demetreus
@2eo: You said “stockpiling weapons and r@ping children” and you are calling me dim-witted? LOL…Laugh Out FRIGGIN LOUD!!!
2eo
@demetreus: “You said “stockpiling weapons and r@ping children” and you are calling me dim-witted?”
Yes, it’s right there, in easy to read black text on a standard white background. I don’t see why it made you “LOL…Laugh Out FRIGGIN LOUD!!!” whatever that means.
demetreus
@2eo: You are one of the slow ones, so I will just be kind and leave you be. Try to have a nice day dear.
Scribe38
@sweetbrandigirl2004: @demetreus: People tend to victim blame so they can believe that certain crimes could never happen to them…”If he/she never gone there it would have never happen”, “By wearing that she was asking for being attacked”, “She/he shouldn’t have been drunk/high they would have be able to say no, so it wasn’t r@pe.” Someone walking down the street in any city in America should be able to do so unharmed! Everyone gay or str8 should be upset by this.
Dakotahgeo
I’ll bet the gay basher didn’t tell his wife/boyfriend what happened when he got home, the damn eunuch!
ergilley
Hey guess what, victim-blamer, he moved to Alabama to take care of his dying mother. Don’t you feel like a shit now? Besides, there’s no difference in what you wrote and the bullshit argument that women get raped because they dress too provocatively. How about we teach idiots not to beat up other people for being different instead of putting the blame on the victim?
sweetbrandigirl2004
@ergilley: To begin with I didn’t blame anyone I simple said it didn’t sound like a smart thing to do to me. Also I understand going there to take care of a sick family member and no I don’t feel like shit. But you have to look at what this dude said and at how he looks..I mean come on he kinda looks and dresses like a women. Then when someone mistakes him for one he gets all defensive and yelling and cursing at a hillbilly country fuck who’s pride way out weights his education…..You and others who think like you need to realize we don’t live in a perfect world and act accordingly.
Dakotahgeo
@sweetbrandigirl2004: So you’re okay with “legitimate rape” also, right? Cheeesch!!!
Bee Gaga
@sweetbrandigirl2004: He actually wrote a piece for the huffingtonpost in which he talks about he lives there with his mother because she is terminally ill so he takes care of her and when this happened he was actually on his way to the store to get something for her, so that’s why he’s living in that shithole of a place
Bee Gaga
@sweetbrandigirl2004: No he said that the guy said something to him as he was walking by and naturally he turned around to see what the guy said, it was at that point the guy realized he was a man and said “oh, my lord, you’re a faggot” and then that’s when he started, as you said, “yelling and cursing at a hillbilly country fuck” which isn’t precise he just said yea I who gives a fuck and kept walking
kennetho9322
You’re ALL welcome to move to progressive Canada where we DO have anti-hate laws in place, gays have been able to marry for years and you can walk down the street safely because NOBODY has a gun.
damon459
@kennetho9322: If only it was that easy, but let’s face it Canada is rather picky about who it will or won’t except. I’ve been trying to move there for years, but being disabled they don’t want me even though I can take my SSDI and Medicare with me. As for guns you are a bit mistaken canada does have guns, they just have better gun laws. You can still own and carry guns though with a permit to carry, long rifles can also be owned. In canada about 25% of the population are gun owners.
sweetbrandigirl2004
@Bee Gaga: Actually your are wrong here’s it is from the story.
“On January 5, Richie Covington was walking to the store when a man gave him a {CATCALL}. When the stranger realized Covington was a man, things turned ugly.
“He was like, ‘Oh my God, you’re a fucking faggot,’” said Covington, who admits he “USUALLY” ignores such taunts. [“I was like ‘Yeah and what of it, motherfucker?’] And I just kept going.”
See a man whistled at him then realized he’d whistled at a man said something to Covington who says he usually ignores such taunts didn’t this time instead he in turn yelled back ‘Yeah and what of it, motherfucker? the hillbilly then beat him up. Moral to this story don’t provoke ignorant hillbillies, it’s like poking a bear with a stick.
Bee Gaga
@sweetbrandigirl2004: No, you said “…he kinda looks and dresses like a women. Then when someone mistakes him for one he gets all defensive and yelling and cursing…”, he didn’t get offended because someone thought he was a woman he got offended because someone disrespected him and called him a faggot. So I was right, furthermore, no the moral of the story is LEARN HOW TO FIGHT my gays enough with the sequins and going to the gym every five seconds, learn how to defend yourself and if not at the very least keep a switchblade, taser, baton, pepper spray, shit anything.
Aaron
@sweetbrandigirl2004: There is no end to this kind of logic. This is 100% the fault of the attacker. Saying that Richie deserved to be beaten for being himself and walking in public only empowers homophobes and bashers. Saying that we should keep meek and silent when being insulted and harassed, again, only empowers homophobes and bashers. I refuse to live in a world where this type of behavior is acceptable because “that stupid gay should have known better”. You know, that’s also why slaves were beaten…