Alleged gay-bashing by Marines mars post-Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell era

Alleged gay-bashing by Marines mars post-Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell era
Sep 8, 2012 4:45 AM EDT

Did GOP’s anti-homosexual rhetoric help fuel an alleged assault by four Marines outside a gay bar in Southern California? Jamie Reno reports.

This month marks the one-year anniversary of the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the United States military. And despite all the handwringing during the past two decades about whether straight soldiers could accept openly gay comrades, the transition has been a peaceful one.

But that changed over Labor Day weekend, when four Marines were arrested following an alleged assault of a gay man outside a popular gay bar in Long Beach, Calif. The victim, Stacey Butler, a 30-year-old film student, was reportedly rendered unconscious from the attack that took place early Monday morning outside the Silver Fox, where he had gone with his boyfriend.

Butler, who was hospitalized overnight and released with non-life threatening injuries, according to Long Beach Police, told the CBS affiliate in Los Angeles, “I remember blacking out. All I remember is being put next to the curb. He starts pushing me and calling me f—. I told him I was gonna call police.”

The four suspects, all based at Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, Calif., were identified by a Pendleton public affairs official as Lance Cpl. Lewis Serna, Pfc. Thomas Pentek, Pfc. Sean Miller, and Lance Cpl. John O'Leary. They were arrested at the scene and have since been released on bail and returned to the base.

Two other individuals who came to the aid of the victim were also injured, according to the Long Beach Police Department, which has taken the case to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Hate Crimes Division.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/09/08/alleged-gay-bashing-by-marines-mars-post-don-t-ask-don-t-tell-era.html