Gay City News - Emanuel Xavier Cover Story

As I alluded to last week, on Thursday Gay City News ran an interview with Emanuel Xavier that I culled from the previous posts I did regarding the assault that happened a couple of weeks ago as well as some of the exchanges I had with him over the last few days. I have written OpEd pieces, a number of columns on dance music for a gay bar magazine in Queens, and a few letters to the editor, but this is the first time I write a full-fledged article for a newspaper. I was shocked, to say the least to have gotten the cover story and I thank editor Paul Schindler for giving me the space.

Even more daunting was having been given the responsibility to write on this specific issue - particularly because I felt I might have been too close to the story and lack some objectivity - but also because I wanted to do Emanuel justice in his retelling of what he went through. I hope the article answers some of the questions that have come my way regarding the attack and that it marks a stepping stone to moving forward.

I also thank Emanuel for sharing his story and leading by example. There is violence in our communities and we must not be silent about it.