US: Straight man punched for standing up against gay slurs
A straight father of two has suffered a black eye and head injuries for telling a woman that using homophobic slurs was uncalled for.
Drew Bartscher, a 27-year-old father of two from Sioux Falls, South Dakota says he was assaulted for telling a woman that using “faggot” was “rude” and offensive outside of a bar on Sunday.
Bartscher told KELO-TV that he heard the woman using the derogatory language while talking to her boyfriend. Bartscher says he approached the woman and politely told her she should stop using that sort of language. The woman’s boyfriend then punched him.
He said: “I hear a woman… make a comment to her boyfriend along the lines of, ‘These F-ing F-words,’ referring to homosexuals… Then I hear this guy yell at me, ‘What the F did you say to my girlfriend?!’ I turned just a little bit and then the next thing I know, my friends are picking me up off the sidewalk, [because] I had gotten punched pretty good.”
The incident was reported, but no suspects have been detained by the police.
Though suffering from an aching tooth, headaches, and a black eye, Bartscher said he would not have changed the way he handled the situation and will continue to speak up for the LGBT community.
He said: “Stand up for what you believe in. Love everyone.”
