Take That

Bagpipes, Baseball Bats, And Blood: 8 Times We Fought Back Against Homophobes

Anita Bryant Pied

From the Stonewall riots to Anita Bryant getting a pie in her face, history isn’t exactly hurting for examples of the gay community banding together to fight in the face of adversity.

But with the advent of smartphones and social media, more and more stories are demonstrating how individuals are sticking it to homophobes in big and little ways every week.

For example, just yesterday, we saw what one badass can do with a bagpipe when confronted with antigay discrimination:

 

As you’ll see below, there have been countless examples over the years.

Here are nine more stories about gay people fighting back against their adversaries (and no, we don’t condone violence and are against murder almost all the time.)

1. Activist Openly Confronts Antigay Creep Tony Perkins

Tony Perkins is a rabidly antigay zealot: the leader of Family Research Council, he’s a highly vocal opponent of marriage equality who thinks musicals are nothing but homosexual propaganda. (He’s also convinced queers will destroy the military by 2034, but nobody’s perfect.)

That’s why it was so satisfying when activist Angela Peoples of GetEScreen Shot 2016-09-01 at 1.15.57 PMqual openly confronted Perkins during a press conference at a Donald Trump event, telling him, “You are responsible for hate and lies… a culture that has fueled violence against our community.”

What do you have to say for yourself, Tony Perkins? You are responsible – you are responsible for all of this violence. Do you see those 49 people that were murdered in Orlando. You created that environment, sir. What do you have to say for yourself, sir?

“We don’t want your prayers, Tony Perkins. We don’t want your lies. We want you to stop being homophobic, we want you to stop the hate speech.”

All Perkins manages to say in response is a perfectly limp, “You are very disrespectful.”

Watch:

Screen Shot 2016-09-01 at 1.12.57 PM

2. The Westboro Baptist Church Flees In Terror From A Group Of Irate High School Students

A group of high school students from Kansas City, MO were clearly displeased when members of the Westboro Baptist Church showed up on their campus to protest the recent election of a trans girl as homecoming queen.

Members of the hate group congregated outside Oak Park High School to wave their usual “God Hates Fags” signs and pose for selfies to upload to their Twitter page. However, they were soon met with a group of counter-protestors who carried signs that read “Westboro Baptist Church need Jesus” while they chanted “long live the queen!”

3. Antigay preacher carrying ‘You Deserve Rape’ sign gets hit with bat

Screen-Shot-2016-05-29-at-1.58.15-PM“Apollo High School, attention Apollo High School… I am out here as a Christian to represent Jesus Christ to you guys today…”

So shouts Brother Daen Saxton into a megaphone as he hovers outside a high school facility in Glendale, Arizona, cradling a “You Deserve Rape” sign.

A phalanx of students gather and criticize his babble. Then, a female student attacks Saxton with a baseball bat — and the whole thing is caught on tape.

You can hear the sound of metal hitting bone, and then Saxton is seen staggering away with blood spilling down his skull.

4. Homophobe Attacks Two Gay Military Academy Grads, Gets His A$$ Kicked

hate4n-1-webLast summer, a homophobe in New York learned the hard way why you shouldn’t pick a physical fight with someone who is bigger and stronger.

Daniel Lennox-Choate and his husband, Larry Lennox-Choate, were at a bodega in SoHo over the weekend when a man approached. First he started shouting antigay slurs at them. Then he threw a punch at Daniel.

Unbeknownst to this jerk, both Daniel and Larry, who were married in 2013, graduated from West Point Military Academy.

“He left covered in his own blood with his tail between his legs after I handled the situation and tossed him in the street like the coward loser he is,” Larry wrote on Facebook.

“We refuse to be victims and are thankful we can defend ourselves, but are saddened by the fact that idiots like this guy might not pick two guys who went through Plebe Boxing next time.”

5. Man Sentenced To Two Years In Prison For Fighting Back Against Violent Antigay Attackers

OMhWoDXaEoPnonY-556x313-noPad21-year-old Luke O’Donovan was sentence two years in a Georgia state prison for standing up against a gang of men who shouted antigay slurs at him at a New Year’s Eve party.

According to O’Donovan, he was at a party in Atlanta on December 31, 2012 when the gang approached him after seeing him dancing with another man. They yelled homophobic epithets and physically assaulted him. What happened next, he claims, was an act of self-defense.

“In an attempt to defend myself from the attack I thought could end my life I stabbed five of them, while also being stabbed three times myself,” he said in a statement.

The prosecution, however, has a different version of events. It claims O’Donovan had been kicked out the party, only to return later with a pocket knife, which he used to stab several people.

O’Donovan denies that this was the case: “It is regrettable that anyone had to come to harm,” he says, “but given the choice of whether to lose my life to a hateful attack or fight for the chance to live, I will always choose the ferocious refusal to go quietly into the night.”

6. Leslie Jordan Throws Coffee At Men Screaming Antigay Slurs Inside West Hollywood Starbucks

A trio of homophobes learned the hard way why you should never enter a West Hollywood Starbucks and start hurling antigay slurs at customers.

For whatever reason, three men, ages 18 to 23, entered the Starbucks on Santa Monica Blvd in West Hollywood and began spewing antigay expletives at customers.

“You will die, fucking faggots!” one of the men allegedly announced to the entire store.Unbeknownst to the homophobes, actor Leslie Jordan was there.

The 4’11 Southern gentleman approached the men, fuming, and told them to “Get out of my house!” before chasing them out the front doors. Once outside, the men continued screaming antigay epithets, but Jordan wasn’t having any of it.

According to witness Joseph Daniels, “The guy lunged at Leslie to hit him, then Leslie threw his drink at the guy.”

It was sweet iced tea, not coffee!,” Leslie insisted, after virtually every gay news website picked up the story.

7. Gay Man Films Confrontation With Homophobic Bigot

Sometimes, fighting back is as simple as turning your smartphone towards some antigay imbecile and catching him in the act of being an antigay imbecile to expose him to the world.

One of many examples: this video posted to YouTube that quick went viral. It stars your garden-variety homophobe casually calling a gay man “faggot” as he walks past the house.

This gay man turns the tables, or rather his cell phone camera on the bigot, and follows him down the street to get an answer for the verbal attack. This bigot tries (and fails) to play it off, saying “It happens all the time.”

Watch: 

Any personal stories you’d like to share about fighting back? Weigh in in the comments below.

 

 

 

 

Don't forget to share:

Help make sure LGBTQ+ stories are being told...

We can't rely on mainstream media to tell our stories. That's why we don't lock Queerty articles behind a paywall. Will you support our mission with a contribution today?

Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated