DECATUR, Ill (WAND) - Local LGBTQ activists from around Decatur gathered outside the transfer house to rally against an attempted murder Decatur Police are labeling as a hate crime. Organizer August Reed says this news was shocking to him.
"It seems like people think that this happens in bigger cities, it happens in the movies, or way long ago. But it's right here, and it's in our town," Reed said. He says this event is to tell the community that this kind of violence will not be tolerated. He shared how the incident made him think of his family's concerns for his safety.
"When I came out to her...how scared she was that something like this would happen to me. And how this easily could have been me or my husband or my family or my friends," Reed said.
Speakers at the event shared how hearing about the crime impacted them. Their message is they will not stand for this.
"I have a message to the attacker and every other aggressor who has committed a hate crime like this; you are not welcome here. You are not welcome here at all. No amount of hatred will erase us. No amount of violence will force us back into the closet," Reed said.
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