Hundreds Gather To Protest Jack Price Gay Bashing, Pro-Gay Bashers Show Up Too

Sun, Oct 18, 2009 by AKA William

Yesterday, hundreds gathered in College Point, Queens to protest the vicious gay bashing of Jack Price by Daniel Rodriguez and Daniel Aleman. (Recall that the attack was caught on surveillance video.)

From NYDN:

Hundreds of protesters marched on College Point, Queens, Saturday to demand an end to violence against gays – just a week and a half after a brutal assault on a neighborhood man.
“Nobody should have to worry about looking behind their backs,” said Joseph Guarneri, 45, of Bayside, whose brother Jack Price was savagely beaten on Oct. 8. “Parents have to teach their kids. They learn hatred and all that stuff at home.”
. . . “What they did to that man was unacceptable,” said Laura Semenia, 48, of College Point. “They beat him, walked away, came back and beat him some more. We can’t tolerate any kind of crime in the community.”

However, strangely, 20 or so counterprotesters showed up to protest those protesting against hate crimes:

More than a dozen Rodriguez supporters, some holding signs saying “Free Danny,” watched the rally from behind police barricades across the street.
“This whole rally is so pathetic,” said Camelisse Kiana, 15, a friend of Rodriguez. “I don’t think this is a hate crime because he doesn’t have nothing against gay people.”

Among those counterprotesting? The moron with the Leviticus 18:22 tattoo. Yeah, remember him? (image via JMG)

Okay, let me just take this opportunity to point out a brilliant comment left by AKA William reader Sean: “He apparently didn’t read much of Leviticus, just the part that lets him be a bigot. Lev 19:28 says don’t mark your flesh.”

Yes, the man who celebrates his homophobia with a tattooed quotation from Leviticus himself violated Leviticus by getting the tattoo!

Imagine if yesterday’s pro-LGBT protesters had descended on Tattoo man and beaten the crap out him saying, “You deserve it! You have a tattoo! An evil tattoo!” That would have been, technically, insane.

Watch WPIX news coverage of the rally and the counterprosters, as well as video of Queens LGBT activist and youth center Q Generation director Marisa Ragonese speaking to the crowd yesterday about hate crimes, bullying, and education.