On the evening of May 18th, I was walking with a friend near my home in Greenwich Village. As we passed the corner where Barnes & Noble recently closed, the area was cordoned off by the police and filled with onlookers. Upon inquiry, I learned that someone had been murdered. From the Gothamist:

On Friday evening, a 32-year-old man was fatally shot in the middle of Greenwich Village in what police believe was “clearly a hate crime.” Brooklyn resident Mark Carson was walking with friend on Sixth Avenue near West 8th Street around midnight Friday when they were confronted by 33-year-old Elliot Morales and two others. “Do you want to die here?” Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Morales asked Carson. Morales then allegedly pulled out a .38-caliber revolver and shot him once in the cheek.

Carson and his 31-year-old friend were dressed in tank tops and cut-off shorts with boots. Police say when they first were approached by the suspects, Morales and pals started hurling gay epithets at them, including “Look at these faggots” and “What are you, gay wrestlers?” Even when Carson and friend started walking away, the suspects chased after them shouting “faggot” and “queer.”

Kelly emphasized, “This fully looks to be a hate crime; a bias crime. There were no words that would aggravate the situation that were spoken by the victims. They did not know the confronter. There was no previous relationship.”

You can read more from the New York Times here.

In a way, it’s incredulous. That in 2013, when state after state are passing same-sex marriage laws, we would witness an anti-gay hate crime ending in murder, in Greenwich Village, New York City – one of the most liberal and gay-friendly neighborhoods and cities in the United States. Unfortunately, this incident illustrates all too well that racism, sexism, and bigotry are not easily eradicated and that while society and human rights evolve and change, that real change is Very Slow.

Photo Note: An impromptu memorial established at the scene of the crime at the entrance of the recently closed Barnes and Noble at 396 Avenue of the Americas on the corner of 8th Street.