A Canadian citizen was attacked outside if a gay bar and says that they are shocked that it happened in the one place they should be safe.
Sean Christie, who identifies as non-binary, was attacked outside of the Reflections Cabaret, which is a popular gay bar in Halifax.
Christie says that they had tried to be the peace bringing in a fight between a friend and a stranger who was kicked outside the bar early Sunday morning. Then just moments later, Christie was attacked down the street from the gay bar.
Apparently, the stranger decided to take out his frustrations on Christie by grabbing onto them and attacking.
“The guy that jumps in grabs ahold of me and just starts attacking me and starts giving homophobic references, like us ‘little queers think we can push around whoever we want,’” Christie told CTV Atlantic.
The attack left Christie with a bruised and bloodied face. Chrisite then called 911 themselves and was moved to a hospital by ambulance.
While Christie will be physically fine, they were shocked to be attacked so close to what they considered a safe space, “That should be the one place I should be safe.”
On top of that, Christie worries that this attack won’t be categorized as a hate crime.
“I worry that sometimes the police or the community just looks at these assaults as just an assault,” Christie said.”
Police have identified a suspect at the scene, but they only questioned him before letting him go. Authorities say they are still investigating.
h/t: CTV Atlantic
