It doesn’t ring like a Nick Haramis story, which would mean this story of unprovoked gay bashing true, and all the more upsetting. Scene: Sunday night, the day after Valentine’s, New York City’s Union Square, Regal movie theatre. There’s glass shards, a box cutter, blood, and a hospital involved here.

On Sunday evening February 15th, my boyfriend and I attended the Regal Union Square theater on 13th Street and Broadway. While inside, he had placed his head on my shoulder and four boys behind us began calling us ‘faggots’ and ‘homos’ and began forcefully kicking the back of our chairs. We contacted the management twice and they did nothing, and the second time I was speaking of what happened and the manager rolled his eyes and walked off and ignored me while I was talking. After the movie was finished, the homophobic remarks continued and the boys began to physically threaten us and surround us.

We looked for any security, of which none was available. Once outside the theater, we were both assaulted by the four boys with glass bottles, shards of glass, and a box cutter, and taken to the hospital. I had suffered a head contusion and my boyfriend suffered a wrist and head contusion and a facial laceration. The case has been classified as a hate crime by NYPD and all parties concerned believe the movie theater was negligent in handling the situation twice and not providing ample security. Also, it should be noted that the boys were related to an employee of the theatre, and were underaged, therefore they should not have been given tickets/admitted into a rated-R movie.