LGBT activists, community groups and elected officials are planning a rally Thursday afternoon in Jackson Heights to bring attention to a pair of crimes against the LGBT community in the area.
The 4 p.m. event will begin at 93rd Street and Roosevelt Avenue, where a transgender woman was allegedly assaulted during the early morning hours of Nov. 29, and move a few blocks west, where a gay man was allegedly sexually assaulted shortly after midnight on Nov. 30.
Natalia Aristizabal of Make the Road New York is coordinating the rally with state and city leaders and other groups.
“They are what makes Jackson Heights diverse and beautiful,” she said of the LGBT community.
No suspects have been identified in either incident and the NYPD said the hate crimes unit is investigating both cases.
The 35-year-old transgender woman was near her home around 4 a.m. Sunday when she allegedly was struck in the head and had her face bashed into the pavement by her fugitive attacker. She is currently recuperating at Elmhurst Hospital from critical injuries to her head, according to Aristizabal.
More than half a day later, a 23-year-old man was walking out of a restaurant at 83rd Street and Roosevelt Avenue when he was allegedly chased by three men who eventually beat him, sexually assaulted him and shouted homophobic statements, according to police. He was taken to Elmhurst in an unknown condition.
“If true, these assaults are attempts to strike fear in the heart of the LGBT community and the neighborhood at large. We will not tolerate hate,” city councilman Danny Dromm said in a statement.
