Three gay men were attacked near a gay bar in Rehoboth last week. (Photo courtesy of Camp Rehoboth)
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JOE CREA
Friday, August 13, 2004
Three gay men were violently attacked last weekend in Rehoboth Beach, Del. by
three other men shouting anti-gay epithets. One victim suffered a broken jaw
and was rendered unconscious in the attack.
The alleged victims, Lawrence Franchetti, 26, and Will Hiley, 30, of D.C.
and Matt Beierschmitt, 23, from New Jersey, were driving near Cloud 9 Restaurant & Bar
in the early morning hours of Saturday, Aug. 7.
Vincenzo Didomenicis, who a police spokesperson described as intoxicated,
began shouting anti-gay epithets at their car, yelling, “faggots,” and “the
Taliban is gay,” according to the alleged victims and law enforcement
officials. Didomenicis then allegedly kicked their car.
Two other unidentified individuals then joined Didomenicis in taunting the
gay men, according to the gay men. Franchetti and Hiley said they do not recall
what happened next, but the 6-foot-7-inch Beierschmitt was knocked unconscious
as blood poured from his mouth.
Franchetti stayed with Beierschmitt as Hiley began chasing the three men who
ran toward their pick-up truck. Once all four arrived at the truck, Didomenicis
and another perpetrator reached into their vehicle and pulled out two pipes
while they continued to shout anti-gay epithets. Hiley detained Didomenicis
but suffered a fractured left hand and a black eye after being hit by another
assailant with a lead pipe.
A call was made to the police department at 1:37 a.m. and four officers arrived
shortly afterwards.
The gay men complained about the treatment they received from three of the
officers.
“Some of the police officers were just ridiculously ignorant,” Franchetti
said. “One said, ‘Well, you guys got out of the car, so you instigated
it.’”
Didomenicis was arrested for disorderly conduct and Beierschmitt was taken
to a nearby hospital and treated for a fractured jaw and missing tooth. Franchetti
said Beierschmitt’s jaw was set early in the week and that he was in “good” condition.
Rehoboth Beach Police Chief Keith W. Banks said that though the investigation
is still ongoing, he did not consider the altercation a gay bashing.
“Look, you had one intoxicated person who had no business running his
mouth, using language that would offend a group of people or anyone for that
matter,” Banks said.
“No one should have to put up with curse words like that and I just
think at that some point in time it pissed [the victims] off and they went
after him.”
Banks reiterated that his department “treats everyone equally, regardless
of their sexual orientation.”
Jeff DeKorte, a Washington, D.C. resident who has visited Rehoboth every summer
for the past five years, said that the atmosphere has changed in Rehoboth over
time, noting that last weekend both he and a friend received catcalls from
a few young kids who shouted, “Hey girls!”
“Is Rehoboth a scarier, more dangerous place? I don’t know, but
for the first time in a while there is something different about it,” DeKorte
said.
DeKorte said it was odd that Rehoboth police did not want to classify Saturday’s
attack as a “gay-bashing.”
“I can’t possibly understand how it would not be considered gay
bashing,” Dekorte said. “People have pipes for a reason.”
Banks said police had not classified any incidents of hate crimes in the past
two years in Rehoboth Beach, a popular summer weekend destination for Mid-Atlantic
gay men and lesbians.
Mark Aguirre, a Rehoboth Beach city commissioner who is gay, agreed with Banks’ assessment
of last week’s incident.
“I don’t think this was a gay bashing,” he said. “A
gay bashing usually involves someone who is gay being attacked, violently,
without provocation. It is important to remember that this was a very chaotic
situation. All six individuals involved were intoxicated.”
Aguirre said Rehoboth remains a welcoming destination for gays, noting that
Rehoboth was host to a gay and lesbian national tennis tournament earlier this
summer.
“This is a community that seldom has these kinds of violent situations,” Aguirre
said. “It is so seldom that here we are two years into my office, and
I am really having to deal with this situation.
“I am anticipating that I will work appropriately to ensure that this
doesn’t happen again and to make sure our community leadership knows
how to handle this. This shouldn’t discourage people from coming to Rehoboth,” said
Aguirre, adding, “It’s much safer than Washington, D.C.”
Joe Crea can be reached at jcrea@washblade.com.
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