LJWorld.com

A man beaten in downtown Lawrence last week, apparently because he is gay, said such incidents need to be reported.

Making sure others know that hate crimes happen is an important step toward stopping such behavior, the victim of a downtown beating said Monday.

The man, who was beaten Thursday by men who apparently thought he was gay, spoke on a Lawrence radio program and later in an interview with the Journal-World.

On the radio program, the man was identified only by his first name, Jeff.

Jeff said he was walking in the 800 block of Massachusetts Street when one of the suspects allegedly asked him, "Why don't you walk like a man?"

Jeff said he responded by telling the men to leave him alone, albeit not in such polite words.

"They stepped apart and sort of surrounded me," he said. "The next thing I remember was that there was an ambulance and I was being examined."

The man said that an earlier police statement saying he had called the two suspects "faggots" was inaccurate. "They were calling me 'faggot' when they were beating me, but I didn't say that to them," he said.

Jeff was a guest on "Queer Radio," a program on KJHK, a student radio station at Kansas University.

He appeared at the request of the show's host, Buck Rowland.

In an interview after the radio show, Jeff said he appeared on the program because of his belief that it is important for people who are the victims of hate crimes to step forward and let others know such acts happen, even in places like Lawrence.

Monday afternoon, Jeff said he still had a black eye and swelling on his nose from the incident.

Because an officer was in the area of the beating, police arrived almost instantly and arrested the suspects.

David Hutson, 29, Lawrence, and Chris Whidden, 23, Labella, Fla., have been charged with battery in connection with the case. They were to appear in Douglas County District Court at 1:30 p.m. today.

Jeff, who is gay, said Thursday's incident was the second time he had been beaten because of his sexual orientation. He did not say if the other attack was in Lawrence.

But he said people shouldn't be afraid to come forward and report such crimes.

"I'm not a shy person -- I don't operate from a place of fear," he said. "I think more people need to talk and express their experiences.

"Definitely be strong. Talk to someone out there."

-- Michael Dekker's phone message number is 832-7187. His e-mail address is mdekker@ljworld.com.