Minnesota gay college student Paul Marquardt found himself on the receiving end of a good ol’ fashioned American knuckle-sandwich last Thursday. The Minnesota Staute University – Moorhead pupil had been when walking home from the library when a group of hoodlums approached.
The gang started shouting at him. Hoping they would go away, Marquardt turned up his music, hoping they’d leave him alone. Unfortunately, the group had other ideas:
Marquardt said he was followed by a group of men who yelled anti-gay slurs at him at which point he turned up his MP3 player in an attempt to ignore the men. The men then threw him to the ground, knocking him unconscious, and kicking him repeatedly. Marquardt regained consciousness several minutes later, but remembered very little of the attack. He was treated for a concussion, a separated shoulder, a broken wrist, and possible spleen damage.
Spleen damage ain’t pretty.
Marquardt’s injuries were so ugly, according to gay group Ten Percent Society, doctors told him that if he weren’t so built, he’d be dead. (See, kids, anorexia don’t pay.) Now Marquardt teaming up with TPS to fight for more comprehensive campus security. TPS released a statement insisting:
This incident shows that there is still a long way go as far as tolerance in our community. But it also shows that there is a lacking of security on MSUM’s campus. There is much that can be done to improve security on MSUM’s campus to help prevent this from happening again.
For his part, Marquardt commented:
How about we take this to the next level?
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Me being gay and it being a hate crime is also awful, but it could have happened to a girl or another guy or a couple. It could have happened to anyone.
TPS, however, played up Marquardt’s homosexuality: “As far as we know, this is the first recorded hate crime in the city of Moorhead.”
We have to play devil’s advocate, but this incident’s not necessarily a hate crime. There’s no report that the attacker’s targeted Marquardt based on his faggotry. They could have just been typical good for nothing hooligans who get their kicks raising hell. We’ll just have to see what – if anything – comes of this…
Assault Shocks Fargo-Moorhead LGBT Community [Eleventh Ave. South]
tom
Guys, please, really, stop playing devil’s fucking advocate. He’s gay; they were yelling anti-gay slurs; they beat the shit out of him. This is clearly a hate crime. Stop pretending like much of the world doesn’t want to kick all our asses just because we like to take it in our asses. We’re still a hated minority in this world; let’s not pretend we’re not.
Paul Marquardt
hey guys, this is paul. I just wanted to say that the response is overwhelmingly great, and that I never knew I had a support network like this. If i can say anything to someone who this has happened to, but are too scared to speak up. trust in knowing that the amount of fear you have, will be GREATLY out-weighed by the amount of support you will recieve. thanks again guys, come to the “March on Campus”, thursday night, 8:00, F-LOT, MSUM
Dawster
The issue that I think Paul in the interview (and Queerty) is trying to make is that there is a general, and larger security issue at play. There are really terrible people running a muck… EVERYTHING they do is a hate crime, really… Paul could have been a victim of opportunity rather than a direct attack with a specific goal. It could have been anyone… a girl, a weaker guy, a professor.
But I have to side with Tom on this one, the anti-gay slurs (although they could be yelling it to EVERY male passing by) definitely makes it a hate crime. I don’t think that the world wants to kick our asses, I refuse to live with that kind of fear… BUT we are still a minority, we still have to keep an eye out, and we still have to stand together when this kind of injustice occurs. I think the “March on Campus†is a great start… forcing the school to up their security is also. We don’t have to have large numbers to have a strong voice, and we shouldn’t cower from a fight when it comes to our place next to every other human being on the planet.
Hopefully these idiots can be brought to justice before they beat up someone weaker, or rape a girl, or kill someone.
(And, hope you have a great turnout this Thursday!)
Kevin
Does anyone know how to hack a website?
This website needs to be hacked. It’s anti-gay. The language is derogatory. The pictures are not of gay men or gay people.
HACK QUEERTY!
John
I think that, increasingly, hate crimes are being prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Last week, a teenaged high school student in rural Colorado received a broken nose from an anti-gay attack.
At first, it seems like school administrators wanted to cover it up with a slap-on-the-wrist punishment (suspension). Which, of course, is what they always do. But then the DA stepped in and filed felony assault charges against the perps. This is precisely how it should work, and why we need to pay attention to the prosecutors we elect into office.
And saying all straights want to beat up gay people is an extreme oversimplication of the straight-gay dynamic. I doubt many of my liberal “breeder” friends will take kindly to such an accusation. Nor should they.
Dave
Perhaps it could’ve happened to anyone. That is true and perhaps they happened upon Mr. Marquardt coincidently with their vitriole. Perhaps he wasn’t singled out, just a simple case of wrong time, wrong place scenario. But is that to be excused? No one feels that way of course here on this blog. But as to Mr. Marquardt’s specific situation, I feel it’s a hate crime as defined per the Federal Statutes. The laxity that people use such derogatory terms as reasons for their violence or to inflict it is scary. Hate crimes towards homosexuals can be perpertrated by anyone, including other homosexuals (i.e. Ted Haggard, whose “church” led many teens to suicide). I do believe unfortunately that people are targetting minorities with more regularity. Perhaps it’s my jaundiced view living in NYC. I’ve seen incidents and experienced my share. And these things are happening more frequently and the incidents are increasingly turning more volatile. Personally, being shoved in the subway while the person mutters “move the f*ck out the way faggot” and other lovely ephitets are not encouraging me to believe things have gotten better. You just live with it and know when to push the matter. What was Kevin Aviance doing last year to merit what happened to him? Michael Sandy. And many other incidents that go on everyday. As a matter of fact, it feels like there is a backlash towards the little progress we as community have achieved. So for every step forward, there are ten steps back. When the future of this country, our youth use the word “gay” to mean lame or stupid; when youth use the word “faggot” to refer to someone as “chicken” or weak; is it a surprise then when these things happen? Does it give you hope that we will achieve anything within a generation’s time? It goes beyond education. It goes to common decency which less and less people possess. Perhaps this may be overly pessimistic, but that’s my opinion. I hope Mr. Marquardt has a large turnout Thursday and the best of luck with him and his future endeavors.
Guest
It wasn’t a hate crime
http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=164414§ion=news
Try having class with him. He’s not hated because hes gay, he’s not liked because he’s annoying – Always making smartass comments trying to be funny. IF he was actually attacked without reason, I have a small amount of sympathy for him, but I hope they charge him with something for messing with the community’s emotions.
jon
I saw Paul 2 days after the “incident”. There wasn’t one bruise on the kid. And he was telling people he had to have his spleen removed? I doubt he is even hurt.
If you know Paul,you would know how he likes to be the center of attention at any cost. He likes to create drama, and that’s what he did. This reminds me of the Duke rape case. I think they should make an example of this poor pathetic excuse for a human being.