Josie Smith-Malave, a former contestant on second season of Top Chef and an out lesbian, was attacked by a group of young adults yelling anti-gay slurs, according to the AP and other reports.
“They were together for an end-of-summer visit, minding their own business, when these people went after them,” said Kurland, “and we can’t stand for this.”
Kurland said the trouble started when the women went to Partners bar in Sea Cliff over the Labor Day weekend for a drink and began dancing together. Smith-Malave’s sister is straight.
Bar employees escorted the women out a side door after other patrons began making nasty remarks and the mood started getting ugly, Kurland said.
Kurland said as many as 10 “young adults” followed the women out, circled them, screamed anti-gay slurs, spit on them and then punched and kicked them. A camera belonging to one of them was stolen, she said. Nassau police said they were investigating, but had made no arrests.
Besides any sorts of bashing being stupid and lame, I’m in agreement of the reviewers of the bar on citysearch: if I were the owner and proprietor of said bar, I’d be doing anything possible to ensure the safety of my patrons, not “ushering them out a side door” to get attacked later. And the anonymous nature of mob mentality probably means that no one will be accountable.
Here’s to Josie getting better and a general “you suck” to the human race.
Update: More details about the attack are found here.
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Claire wrote:
Correct. You know who needs to be escorted out a “side door” in that kind of situation? The people making ugly remarks, not the people being harassed. WTF. WTF. WTF is wrong with some people?
Posted on 12-Sep-07 at 10:15 pm | Permalink
courageous kiwi wrote:
Everyone’s a hero online.
Posted on 12-Sep-07 at 11:12 pm | Permalink
Bertie wrote:
The strange thing is that Sea Cliffs is, from what I have heard, a quaint, well-to-do and highly educated town. The north shore of Long Island is not the place one would expect this stuff would happen - then again, Kevin Aviance was gay bashed in the East Village in Manhattan on the eve of NYC Pride in 2006.
Assholes are everywhere.
(Kurland, by the way, is a pretty famous attorney out in these here parts.)
Posted on 13-Sep-07 at 5:56 am | Permalink
:: jozjozjoz :: wrote:
An update.
http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=96369f73-b3b2-4273-8d9d-2385599f8ae0
Posted on 14-Sep-07 at 9:29 am | Permalink
Bertie wrote:
(Damn this comment system…)
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=56411636
I *heart* MySpace
Posted on 14-Sep-07 at 10:08 am | Permalink
hmmmmm wrote:
taking into account his myspace page posted above and the fact that he’s staying with friends in sea cliff (a rich town), does anyone else find e!online’s characterization of this guy as a “homeless man” misleading? “homeless man” seems to connote that he is a crazed bum. he looks like your typical middle class skater slacker dude. jeez, when i first moved to new york, i stayed on my friend’s couch until i found an apartment.
Posted on 14-Sep-07 at 10:25 am | Permalink