Gay journalist undergoes brain surgery after hate attack in New York
A journalist who suffered a violent homophobic assault on a New York street requires further surgery.
Randy Gener, 45, was walking home on 17 January from a Broadway show party premiere when he was viciously punched in the face on West 54th Street in Manhattan, close to his home.
He was left in a pool of his own blood.
“Three more minutes he would have been in his own bed,” Mr Gener’s partner Stephen Nisbet said to CBS.
“He got hit really hard on the head so he suffered traumatic brain injuries,” Mr Nisbet added.
Mr Gener has undergone brain surgery at New York’s St Lukes Hospital and is scheduled to have another operation.
His friend, Liz Casasola, said that the journalist is “coming in and out of consciousness, and he is not quite aware of what’s going on.”
Police are investigating the beating as a possible hate crime.
The New York Police Department say the suspect is described as a Hispanic male in his 20s who is approximately 160 lbs with short black hair.
He was last seen wearing black jeans and a black jacket.
Mr Gener has worked for The New York Times, The New York Daily News, American Theater Magazine, and NPR.
Family and friends held a vigil for the journalist close to where the attack happened at the weekend.
