Man and friend brutally attacked by group of men and a woman in Washington
The two friends were allegedly attacked because of their sexuality
By Steve Brown
A man and his friend were brutally attacked in Washington.
William Southern was walking with his friend Robbie Barletta when they were allegedly attacked by a group of four men and one woman and they were “simply because we were gay”.
Southern was sent to ER where he received stiches to his lip and decided to post the incident on his Instagram account along with images of his damaged lip and bloodied shirt.
He wrote: “So, this is extremely hard for me and I have not 100% settled on how I feel it. But, Sunday a friend of mine @robertandre and I were the target and the victims of a hate crime.
“We were attacked by 4 men and a women on the corner of 16th and U in Washington DC, simply because we were gay.
“The four men and the lady brutally attacked myself and my friend, I was sent to the ER where I received stitches to pull my lip back together.
“But, the moral of this story is not that it happened or for people to feel sorry for me. This is a statement, I will never stop being gay, I will never feel ashamed of who I am.
“Most importantly, I will never let anyone around me feel like less of a person simply because of who they are!
“I am fortunate enough to have an amazing support system even though I have only lived in DC for a few months.
“I am proud and honoured to be apart of @stonewallkickball, my kickball family came together and has given me amazing support and I never would have met them without the lady’s and gentlemen who were courageous enough to put together these teams to support LGBTQ rights and give them a safe haven to be themselves.
“May we stand strong and move forward.”