Chris Kostka, a gay man visiting Provincetown, Massachusetts, was walking along Bradford Street between 1 and 2 a.m. on Monday, June 30, when, near Howland Street at the town’s eastern end, three men shoved him to the pavement and began kicking him while yelling anti-gay slurs.
“All of a sudden I just feel myself getting pushed to the ground,” Kostka told Boston NBC affiliate WBTS-CD. “I fly forward and I turn. I see three guys, and of course, I’m stunned from just being thrown to the pavement, and I just cover my face, go into a fetal position as I’m getting kicked and getting called some gay slurs.”
He added, “I got a couple good kicks into my chest. Luckily just a couple of scraps and bruises, you know. Nowadays things like this happen all the time, and it could end up a lot worse.”
Kostka described the car as a black Lexus sedan with a Donald Trump bumper sticker and said the attackers appeared to be three men between the ages of 20 and 30. He claims one of the men used a homophobic slur during the attack before the group returned to the car and drove off.
“I was just in shock,” Kostka said. “P-town, you let your guard down because it’s such a happy place for everyone, so safe, and you just don’t expect that. So, for it to come out of the blue, you don’t know what to think.”
Kostka suffered cuts and bruises in the alleged assault but did not require hospitalization.
Provincetown police are investigating. The department has asked the public to review any security or doorbell camera footage from the area of Howland Street between 1 and 2 a.m. to assist with the case.
“The Provincetown Police Department is taking this report very seriously and has detectives actively investigating the incident,” police said in a statement, adding that the entire department was “alerted to this incident and will continue working hard to stay vigilant and keep everyone safe.”
Anyone with information about the alleged attack is asked to contact Detective Sgt. Jennifer Nolette at 508-487-1212 or jnolette@provincetown-ma.gov. Tips can also be submitted by phone at 508-487-2828 or by email to report-a-tip@provincetown-ma.gov.
The Boston Police Department has released photos of eight men suspected of involvement in an alleged hate crime against a gay couple in the city’s Mattapan neighborhood earlier this month. The images, several of them blurry, depict men of varying ages: one in a Red Sox hat with a white shirt and jacket; another with a small white beard wearing a Bass Pro Shop hat and black shirt; and a third, bald and in a maroon V-neck, sporting round sunglasses.
The other five suspects are pictured in varied outfits: a long-sleeved white shirt with jeans and white sneakers; an olive long-sleeve shirt with jeans; a black T-shirt and jacket with light blue pants, with hair in braids; a red sweatshirt with matching shorts; and a black-and-white tracksuit.
A Woburn, Massachusetts couple lost their foster license after refusing to sign a Department of Children and Families (DCF) form requiring them to support gender-affirming care for LGBTQ youth.
Lydia and Heath Marvin, whose license was revoked in April 2025, had fostered eight children under the age of four since 2020. The couple said their religious beliefs prevented them from promising a "safe, affirming, and discrimination-free environment" for LGBTQ children.
"We asked, is there any sort of accommodation, can you waive this at all?" Lydia told CBS Boston. "We simply can't agree to go against our Christian faith in this area."
A new survey finds that many LGBTQ Americans -- especially transgender and nonbinary people -- have altered their lives in response to a wave of anti-LGBTQ laws and rhetoric sweeping the country, with many reporting serious harm to their mental health and overall wellbeing.
Conducted from May 29 to June 13 by NORC’s AmeriSpeak panel for the Movement Advancement Project, the online survey polled 1,055 LGBTQ adults nationwide, including 111 who identified as transgender or nonbinary.
Operated by NORC at the University of Chicago, AmeriSpeak is a probability-based panel designed to reflect the U.S. household population. Randomly selected households are contacted through mail, email, phone, or in-person interviews.
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