Aug 13, 2004  |  By: JOE CREA  | COMMENTS     

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.

Not a gay bashing?
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.”

A changing Rehoboth?
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.