For the third time since Mark Carson was shot and killed by a homophobe on Saturday, a gay man was attacked in Manhattan because of his sexual orientation.

The attack took place late Monday night. As the New York Times reports, two men – who had known each other for about a month – spent Monday afternoon drinking; later that night, at approximately 10:45 p.m., the conversation turned to the fact that one of the men was gay. Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said the conversation was friendly at first but unexpectedly turned violent.

“According to the victim, his assailant just snapped, became enraged and yelled antigay expletives,” Kelly told the Times.

The victim was struck in the head and knocked unconscious. He was later treated at Bellevue Hospital Center and released. The suspect, Roman Gronell, 39, fled and is still at-large.

Later that night, just a few blocks away at Avenue D and 4th Street, party promoter Dan Contarino (pictured above) was attacked by a man screaming "faggot" at him. A bruised and bloodied Contarino was later taken to a nearby hospital, where, according to his Facebook page, he underwent minor surgery. And early Tuesday morning, a gay couple was attacked in SoHo by two men making “antigay, derogatory statements in Spanish and English.”

The recent attacks bring the number of antigay crimes in New York City to 29, over double the number at this time last year.

[New York Times/NBC New York]

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