Gay Bashing Ends With One Attacker Dead

According to a November 8th article on Gay.com, a young man by the name of Lucas Dawson,21 was attacked by a group of young men in the Mt. Airy Section of Philadelphia on the evening of October 29th. The article states that he was approached by four teenagers who began calling him "faggot" and other derogatory names about being gay. In spite of his attempts to avoid trouble, they began to physically assault him. At one point, Dawson was able to flee his attackers, but one of them chased him and caught up with him. At that point Dawson pulled out a small knife he had on his person and stabbed the young man in his chest, causing a fatal injury. Dawson is now in jail on $30,000 bail and will be put on trial for voluntary manslaughter.

To me it seems a bit unfair that this young man's life could potentially be ruined over an act of self defense. He didn't ask for these young men to attack him. He didn't ask to be teased about his sexuality. There was little in the Philadelphia news about this incident. I watch the news every night and although I don't watch all channels and I don't read all the different news papers, it seems that this incident was not very well publicized. This was clearly a hate crime that ended tragically. I think Dawson had a right to fight back and I think he should not be tried for manslaughter as he was clearly provoked and likely scared for his life.

Hate crimes should not go unpunished and I do hope that the surviving 3 young men who attacked Dawson are prosecuted for their part in this. I don't think we should lose site of the fact that Dawson was gay bashed and could have easily been the one seriously hurt or even murdered. We all know too well that gay bashings can end in death. Brooklyn, NY has recently experienced several gruesome attacks on gay men. One young man was killed and his body dismembered. They still have not found all of his body parts. A few years ago, also in Brooklyn, there was a man who dressed as a ninja who was dubbed the Prospect Park Slasher who was going through Prospect Park with a large knife cutting gay men. Though the victims were not killed, this was clearly a case of gay bashing. So who could blame Lucas Dawson for carrying a knife with him and for using it in self defense, because if he hadn't, he may have been the one to die that evening. I certainly don't condone violence and I think it's a tragedy that anyone had to die in this incident, but everyone is entitled to defend themselves when attacked, especially when outnumbered.

His family is trying to raise his bail money, though it's not clear where donations can be sent. If I find this information out, I'll post it on this site.