Homophobic Attack

Phobia (ˈfəʊbɪə) - n: an irrational fear  of a given situation, organism,  or object.

York University has been getting a lot of attention when it comes to gender issues. 

I keep wanting to start out postings like this with, "It's 2011... And people still haven't learned there are different people in the world...?". Then I realize that a vicious cycle of hate crimes, racism, sexism, ableism and all the rest of the "isms" will always partake in society in whatever degree.

Valeria Bustros works at the restaurant on York University Campus and was attacked by three men outside of the bathroom. The men questioned her gender and when she identified herself as a "butch lesbian",  they attacked her. Yea.

Bustros says that she's supposes she is glad that it happened to her because she could handle it, however, she says if it were a "19 or 20 year old who just came out of the closet and had gender identity issues it might have driven them to suicide". I found this to be VERY important because of the string of suicides of LGBTQ teens last year. Bullying, taunting, harassing... all of that takes a large portion of a human being.

"We got into a scuffle on the floor 

and his friends started hitting me while he was kicking me in the face" - Bustros

The three men who attacked Bustros did nothing but commit a hate crime. They did not make change. They did not change Bustro's so-called "choice" of alternate lifestyle, change her appearance or attire and did not keep her from speaking out about the incident.
Their actions weren't based on Bustros' customer service at the restaurant or any insults she threw their way... anything other than the fact that Bustros is a lesbian.

Now what I just LOVE (I'm being sarcastic) is that before people start insulting, offending and just end up saying things that make me shake my head, they ALWAYS start with, "No offence... but...". 
If you click on the CP24 article, you will see below a comment made by "Aaron". So this brilliant "Aaron" questions where Bustro's bruises and cuts are from being attacked and hit in the face, and asks if it isn't possible that Bustro's story was over-exaggerated. Really? ... Please note how he starts his comment... ("Not to say that...")

Now, if I knew this "Aaron", I would definitely smack him upside the head really hard. If he yells "OUCH!!!" I would point out that HE has not prove I hit him because he has no cuts or bruises on his scalp to show that he was hit. And then I would question whether "Aaron" just over-exaggerating a little.

Questioning the validity of Bustros' side of the story IS IN FACT removing the attention AWAY from the homophobic act that took place, and setting the focus on whether Bustros is a fibber or not. It removes the attention away from the actual crime and perpetuates the very hate crime the focus SHOULD be on. Therefore, it removes the criminals from the spotlight and fixes the light on the victim. Get it "Aaron"?

Regardless of your religious beliefs or morals, values etc., it is always always always wrong to inflict pain, cause bodily harm and emotional distress on others. That is one thing I believe... that and I believe capital punishment is wrong. It is my belief that those who commit a crime shouldn't be killed, but should live in confinement for the remainder of their lifetime. Not killed. We have enough power to decide to BRING people into this world... you want to have power to take them out too?

Thing about humans is, we fear God or some sort of higher divine power, yet at times we believe we are that higher power. These three men obviously felt strong with their privileges as men, strength in numbers and with the convenient private environment of a bathroom area to attack one individual. 
Now this is not just a regular use of the word "fag" just because it's in a humorous context. This is not just avoiding socialization with people of the LGBTQ community. 
This is definitely not justifiable. 


This is a hate crime.

What were these three men thinking?... What did this prove that was to their advantage? What did they change? Were they trying to create a fear or a sense of threat on the LGBTQ community on and off campus?

And what is York U going to do about it?

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Interesting: This site lists and describes 10 most common phobias. Guess what? Homophobia is not listed. ... Oh wait sorry, they must be talking exclusively about the 10 most common phobias that cause dizziness, nausea and breathlessness. ... Not assault or murder. 

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UPDATE: April 10th, 2011


It's still too early for me to give the Toronto Police or York University any credit for any (no matter the quality or quantity) of development made in this investigation. CP24 reports that a photo was a suspect in the Bustros assault case as been released. 

Photo released of suspect in the York
University assault 2 days ago.

So this is him I guess? No descriptions have been released as of right now, but hopefully someone will recognize him and/or come forward. 

What kills me about the first CP24 article is that it says, "After pub security broke up the fight the three men fled"... Huh? No one... went after them? I need clarification on this. 

Dear CP24, if you want people to call Crime Stoppers, how about you add the phone number to your article? 

Ok great thanks.