Anti-Gay Attack on Georgetown Student

Another Georgetown University student is beaten in an apparent anti-gay attack. It's the second attack in less than a week. Tuesday night students at Georgetown are holding a vigil to show their solidarity against these hate crimes.

It was early Sunday morning around 1:30, just after Halloween, when the student was beaten up while walking at 36th and N Streets Northwest.

The student was beaten so badly he ended up in the hospital. An alert went out campus wide to Georgetown students with a warning. Before the attack, it said, the suspect asked several times if he was gay, using a derogatory term.

"It doesn't matter what group they belong to what community to whatever they are that's not right," said Carter Lavin, a Georgetown student who immediately organized a flash protest last night.

Lavin took his anger and put together a solidarity vigil Tuesday at Red Square on campus. The vigil starts at 8:30 p.m. It's the second attack over five days, apparently motivated by hatred of gays.

"That's very scary to me because I live right here. It worries me there are such homophobic things going on campus," said student Brianne Handal.

Last Tuesday, the university says two men attacked a female student on Canal Road, using gay slurs, and then knocked her down and hit her. She was wearing a t-shirt supporting gay rights. Some students called the attacks uncharacteristic.

"Georgetown is known for expressing yourself and being proud of who you are," said Zack Angel.

Student Alex Muckerman said the attacks make the university and its students look bad. But he said "I don't think it says anything about the greater student. It's just a bad apple."

It remains unclear wither the attacker is a student and if the two incidents are linked.

In an e-mail, a Georgetown spokesperson said, "The safety of our students is a primary concern for us, and we are continuously working to make our campus a safe place for everyone. The university informed the campus community about both of these incidents, and we're asking everyone in our community to remain vigilant."

Lavin wants to start a student watch program much like neighborhood crime watches. Anti-gay sentiments he says run deeper than just Georgetown.

"I'm horrified. These are atrocious crimes. But it's not surprising. I think we live, not just in Georgetown, but in the United States, there's still a broad culture of homophobia," Lavin said.

D.C. police are investigating. The student who was beaten is out of the hospital. The university said the attacker was wearing a black leather jacket with his face painted red and white, possibly out that night in Georgetown for Halloween.