From today’s Times, we now turn to an article regarding the trial of the three hooligans accused of luring a man into a parking lot in Sheepshead Bay, which ultimately led the man — attempting to escape — to run into the nearby highway, where he was struck by a car and ultimately killed.

Although we don’t wish to comment on the crime itself (except to perhaps draw Judith Warner’s attention to its continuing existence) we could not resist highlighting the following text:

“To win a conviction under the hate crime law, Ms. Nicolazzi [the prosecutor] seeks to prove the defendants selected a gay man for robbery on the notion that gays are fearful and vulnerable.”

For the many readers of The Gay Recluse who–after noting this in The Times–have written to express concern on our behalf, we would like to emphasize that we do not feel particularly fearful and vulnerable, although we do make a point not to harangue the drug dealers who populate the corners of our streets. Furthermore, our steadfast refusal to identify with any “community” — except for those related to subway ridership, alpine plants and certain animals — leads us with all due respect to declare our fundamental opposition to the “Hate Laws” enacted in our behalf. Does it really matter that Mr. Sandy (the victim in this case) was gay? It seems to us that even if he were Anita Bryant, he would deserve the full force of society’s prosecutorial power for being so mercilessly led to his death.