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.
Austin police are investigating whether an assault on a transgender woman and a male bystander at Barton Springs, a popular Austin swimming spot, was a hate crime. The incident occurred on July 26, when three men began flirting with the woman’s friends and then allegedly harassed her after she approached them.
"They said something along the lines of 'I don't support that lifestyle,' while pointing at me, which upset all three of us," said the transgender woman, whose name is being withheld for safety and privacy reasons, in an interview with the Houston Chronicle.
Misha Brown, a 37-year-old influencer, actor, and host of the Wondery podcast The Big Flop, revealed in a TikTok video on July 17 that he had received an apology from his former high school bully -- 20 years after graduation -- after the bully's 15-year-old son came out as gay.
"Hey man, I just felt like I needed to tell you that I'm sorry I was a damn jerk in school," the message read. "Really, I'm sorry. But I've been following what you've done lately and it's really cool. I'm proud of you. You're like really helping people. The reason I wanted to tell you all this is I've got a son now. He's 15, and he told me he's gay. Man, all I thought about when he told me that was how I hope people are nicer to him than I was to you. It makes me proud to be his dad. And hopefully that makes up for something."
Laura Loomer, the far-right influencer with close ties to President Donald Trump, claimed during a deposition in her defamation lawsuit against HBO that sources close to the former president told her U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is gay.
Loomer is suing the network over comments by comedian Bill Maher, host of Real Time with Bill Maher, who joked that she had an affair with Trump. She alleges Maher's on-air remark about her "sleeping with Trump" -- echoing a rumor circulating at the time -- cost her a job in the Trump administration and the political influence that would have come with it. HBO has argued that Maher's comment is protected under the First Amendment, just as Loomer's own inflammatory remarks are shielded when she targets her political enemies.
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