A vigil is planned Tuesday night in Cottage Grove for a young gay man who was beat up Saturday night. The community is also coming together in solidarity with the victims of the mass shooting in Orlando.
The 27-year-old man told KLCC he was walking home late from a bar and passed a couple on the narrow sidewalk. The alleged attacker accused him of touching his female companion. The victim said “I don’t even like women.” That’s when the man started kicking him and shouting anti-gay profanities. Jessica Campbell is with the Rural Organizing Project in Cottage Grove.
Campbell: “Everyone felt like Cottage Grove was a safe place. Especially a safe place if you identify as LGBTQ. And so, for it to be a place where actually you get attacked and you hear slurs as you’re getting kicked in the head is really shocking to a lot of people and a lot of people will not stand for it.”
The young man asked not to be identified. He is recovering from his injuries and Cottage Grove police are investigating. Campbell says there have been other recent incidents of hate speech in Cottage Grove.
The vigil is from 5 to 7 o’clock Tuesday evening in Cottage Grove’s Opal Whitely Park.
