Portland, Oregon Man Arrested for Attack on Gay Couple
Police have arrested Paul Martinson (pictured), one of two men wanted in connection with an attack on a gay couple that took place last week in downtown Portland, Oregon, The Oregonian reports:
The couple told police they had just parked at Southwest 3rd Avenue and Oak Street and were holding hands as they walked toward the Silverado Bar and Nightclub about 11:20 p.m., Simpson said. Two men approached the couple as they walked, Simpson said. One allegedly made anti-gay slurs, sparking a verbal argument that escalated into a physical fight between one of the suspects and one of the victims, a 22-year-old man.
As the two fought, the second suspect showed a knife and continued to use anti-gay slurs before kicking the 22-year-old, Simpson said. The victim managed to fight the two suspects off and ran into the bar to call for help. Silverado security watched as the two suspects began smashing the windows of the SUV the couple had arrived in, Simpson said.
Police are still looking for the second suspect.
Come on, now. These things only happen in Heartland America and the Deep South, where the resident rednecks are motivated by the hateful rants of Republican politicians, not in sophisticated urban areas on the East and West Coasts.
Seriously, though, kudos to the gay guy for having the courage to fight back and not just standing there and letting some guy beat the crap out of him. If we all did that when harassed or attacked, pretty soon the message would get out and many such incidents as this would subside.
Posted by: Rick | Mar 20, 2012 10:20:38 AM
Don't want to stereotype or make an assumption, but the guy looks like a street urchin, potentially homeless. Good on the victim for taking matters into his own hands and getting help before being hurt too badly. Luckily they caught one of the attackers and with him in custody they can bait the identity of the second attacker from this one idiot.
Sadly, street trash are everywhere, especially in big cities, and street trash are dangerous and usually anti-gay. It's incidents like this that make it imperative that we are always ready to fight at all times, and have protection when going out at night. The difference RICK between a Portland and the heartland of America is the fact incidents like this are more rare and incidents like this are taken more seriously. Homophobia is a problem everywhere, so we all need to do our part to eliminate it instead of picking battles, RICK.
Posted by: Francis | Mar 20, 2012 10:54:17 AM
Actually, reading that the two men "ran into the park woods" in the Oregonian print definitely leads me to believe the two men are street urchins and homeless. Unfortunately, a lot of those types hate gay people and attack us, probably because they want to feel superior and gain self-esteem by doing so, and by sending a message we don't belong on "their" streets. One of the main ways to end hate crimes is to clean up our city streets and remove people like this from them. Just goes to show even in liberal Portland there are haters and we always need to be aware.
Posted by: Francis | Mar 20, 2012 11:00:51 AM
I'm sort of stunned by your words, Francis. Homeless people - much like ALL people - run the gamut from harmless to dangerous, filthy to clean, sane and insane, homo-friendly and homophobic.
To have such a callous attitude and lump all of them together, claim they are "dangerous trash" and need to be cleaned up... it strikes me as the very same phobic response that many heteros have when confronted with gay people.
Yes, this man may or may not be homeless, but to use his crime as a springboard to rant against all homeless people strikes me as thoughtless, cruel and sociopathic.
I hope for your sake you are never homeless because, if so, your karma is going to be pretty heavy.
Posted by: johnny | Mar 20, 2012 11:17:56 AM
Looks like someone opened a can of ass-whup in his face.
Also, "urchins"? What is this, "A Tale of Two Cities"?
Posted by: gwynethcornrow | Mar 20, 2012 12:22:10 PM
I didn't, Johnny. I know better than to do that. But I also know that there ARE a lot of street types who HATE gay people. And are often the ones committing hate crimes. Sometimes it's other gays committing these crimes. Dangerous trash LIKE THIS GUY we're seeing here do need to be off the streets and into prisons. Why? Well, given the fact, he's capable of committing an attack like this. Given the fact most anti-gay attackers have criminal records. I wouldn't assume all homeless would so something like this, in fact, he being homeless isn't even the concern, he being homeless is pretty irrelevant. It's not about homelessness, it's about idiots being on the streets at night, and preying on innocents, especially gays.
Posted by: Francis | Mar 20, 2012 12:42:12 PM
@Francis,
Mug shots are never flattering. And they are often taken with harsh lighting and the guy hasn't shaved for a day or two, or even slept for a day or two. It's hard to sleep in a jail cell. I'm not defending this ahole, but he doesn't have any particular 'look' to me.
As for the homeless, there are plenty of gay and bi homeless. Many 'street kids' especially are in fact bi or gay. Many of course are also druggies, alcoholics, mentally unstable, and in and out of county jail.
Posted by: ratbastard | Mar 20, 2012 1:36:12 PM
Uh, I'm formerly a homeless person and 9thanks to the recession) about one step away from it now and I'm gay as all get out.
And, yes, Portland, OR is very progressive but you don't have to go too far to the east in Oregon to find redneck heaven either.
Posted by: Chitown kev | Mar 20, 2012 1:44:20 PM
Yes, a large percentage of homeless youth in Portland are LGBT youth, but thank goodness we ARE trying to help them, and YOU can help them, too! ;-)
http://www.outsidein.org/
I agree that you do NOT have to travel far around and/or out of Portland proper to find the CRAZY white-trash/redneck/hillbilly types. Take a look at "Incest-icada" (a.k.a. Esticada). :-P
Posted by: Fruit-for-Peace | Mar 20, 2012 3:00:44 PM
OK, so reading the full story of the incident, this guy Paul Martinson when caught said "queers cause enough problems" and that he "didn't quite care for f*gs". Also he has NO KNOWN RESIDENCE aka he's street trash. Notice I didn't say homeless, there is a difference between homeless individuals and trash like this and I NEVER once accused all homeless of being criminals and I apologize if I ever gave off that intent. I'm assuming this man is probably imbalanced and maybe has a prior criminal record. In any case, I hope the gay couple doesn't allow this random attack haunt them in any way. There are bad people everywhere, incidents like this are rare in Portland, but crazy people are crazy people.
Posted by: Francis | Mar 20, 2012 4:17:27 PM
I may as well jump in and note that a lot of homeless youth ARE gay.
Posted by: Ed | Mar 20, 2012 10:10:57 PM