LGBT activists in the District of
Columbia will hold a candlelit “Vigil Against Hate” on Thursday
night in response to an attack over the weekend on two gay men.
The attack occurred early Sunday
morning in the city's U Street entertainment district, near the
intersection of 10th and U Streets, N.W. Police are
looking for three men they say shouted anti-gay slurs as they
attacked the men. Both men were treated at Howard University
Hospital. The attack left one man unconscious and the other with a
broken nose and a chipped tooth.
A passerby recorded footage of the
attack on a cell phone and posted it to social media.
Jerry Blackmon is leading in organizing
the vigil.
“Two of our own were viciously
attacked in full view of cameras, witnesses and [a] passerby who felt
posting to Twitter was more important than stopping an assault that
left one of them lying in U Street unconscious, and the other
bloodied nearby with a busted nose,” Blackmon said in a Facebook
posting.
Blackmon said that the vigil is “a
visible expression of solidarity with the two members of our
community who were viciously attacked.”
“It is 2018,” he added. “We will
not stand for this. We have had enough.”
The “Vigil Against Hate” will be
held in Stead Park near Dupont Circle on Thursday, April 19 at 8:30
P.M.