Couple hospitalised after homophobic attack in Austin, Texas
Spencer Deehring and Tristan Perry were allegedly attacked for holding hands in the street
By Steve Brown
Words: Steve Brown
A couple were hospitalised following a homophobic attack in Austin, Texas.
Spencer Deehring and his partner Tristan Perry were out celebrating a friend’s birthday on January 18 and after leaving a club, a man called them a homophobic slur after seeing the couple holding hands.
They then confronted the man but he then followed with a group of his friends and started attacking the couple.
Deehring told KXAN: “They started following behind us pretty closely yelling every expletive you can think of.
“The last thing I said to one of the guys before they attacked both of us was like, ‘I don’t have anything more to say to you guys, we’re just going home, leave us alone’.”
One of the men then allegedly punched Perry in his face and when he fell to his knees, the gang continued to kick him.
Deehring then attempted to protect his boyfriend but was knocked unconscious by one of the attackers.
Perry suffered a broken nose, chipped teeth and facial bruising as well as having a cut to the back of his head and suffered from memory loss.
The couple were both taken to hospital for treatment and they said they had filed a police report.
Perry continued: “It shouldn’t happen to anyone else, and it breaks my heart that it’s probably going to [keep happening] until these guys are caught.
“Living in Corpus Christi and moving to Austin, I thought, ‘Oh, everyone is going to be so open-minded’.
“I think that a lot of people think that, and it’s overlooked that this could happen to anybody, anywhere, anytime.”