The following events were numbing, tedious, and frustrating, to the say the least. I alerted the nearby policemen and filed a report. Unfortunately, they did not hear or see the event themselves, but were helpful enough to document the event. The following day I went to my dentist to get an evaluation and preliminary procedure for the two crowns I needed to replace the teeth I had lost during the event and wisdom teeth removal Boise. My insurance only covered $1,000 worth of the procedure, requiring me to pay another $1,400 out of pocket.

Needless to say, the perpetrator was not identified or located. I contacted both the Staples Center and the LA Kings to tell them what happened, to try to obtain any possible footage of the assault and to see if there was anything they could do. My initial call to the Staples Center was immediately met with a jarring dismissal from the individual I spoke with, who stated that they “are not authorized to release any footage or discuss any such events until the police submit an official report of the event.” No condolences or concern was thrown my way, but instead I was instructed to wait until the police follow up.

When I reached out to the LA Kings office, I spoke with a woman to whom I detailed the event that had happened, and asked if there was someone in the organization I could speak to about trying to obtain footage, and my concern for homophobic attacks at their games. She told me that she would have someone call me back that day. I never received any further correspondence from the LA Kings.

Finally, after a full week following the assault, a woman from the Staples Center called me, telling me that the “communications had gone down the wrong channels” and that she should have been notified immediately following my initial call to the Staples Center (which did not happen). She offered me her condolences, and extended an opportunity to attend another LA Kings game with one (1) friend for free.

At this point I was reeling from the insanity that no one was taking this hate crime seriously. Naturally I wanted to recover the $1,400 out-of-pocket cost of the medical procedure I needed to amend the damage I had incurred. But taking a week to respond and offering me a chance to come back to another LA Kings game after what had happened? I couldn’t believe it.

I told the woman that I did not feel safe returning to the Staples Center for another sporting event, and had her redirect my call to AEG (the insurance provider for the Staples Center) to file a claim with them. I have still not heard anything back regarding the status of my claim. As for the Los Angeles Police Department, I was directed to an office under the District Attorney that deals with the recovery of money for victims of violent crimes. Although I have not heard anything back regarding the status of that claim, I am hopeful that it will at least return what I had to pay to fix my teeth.

Over a month later, I am still processing what happened. I am still as shocked as I was in the moment that I was a victim of a hate crime motivated by my sexuality, although the physical and emotional pain has mostly subsided. As I continue to think about what this event means to me within the larger context of being a minority in my city (and the U.S. as a whole), I have learned several things: