Rally Planned In Support of Man Injured In Homophobic Attack In Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada

09/11/09- by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
A large number of people are expected to rally behind Jake Raynard after he was assaulted by a gang of people using homophobic slurs. Mr. Reynard is currently recovering at his sister’s house after having been brutally beaten. The assault left Reynard with a crushed cheekbone, fractured skull and many other injuries. He had to undergo extensive reconstructive surgery in order to repair some of the damage. While he is expected to make a full recovery, it will take several months before he is fully healed.

Michael Sobota, who is one of the organizers of this rally, has stated “This is an opportunity to say we don’t tolerate this in our city.” The rally will start at Waverly Park and go through downtown Thunder Bay passed the bar where the assault occurred. Eventually, the rally will return to Waverly Park where there will be entertainment and speeches.

Raynard is haunted by the attack even today, and likely for some time to come. “I’m terrified, especially when it gets dark. I wake up every ten minutes and imagine things hitting my face. This should never happen anywhere in the world to anyone. I’m not the one who has to stop being the way I am. They’re the ones who have to leave the community.”

The police have not made any arrests, nor are they saying if they are investigating this as a hate crime despite the fact that it more than obviously was.

Support for Reynard has been immense with many well wishers visiting him as well as financial help for legal costs and other expenses. The thirty year old is an instructor at Haliburton School of the Arts, but he will not be there for the start of classes. Given his injuries, it is more than likely that he will be unable to be in the classroom for the entire semester.

Among the supporters who have being doing what they can to help is Juan Anderson, a heterosexual friend of Reynard. Anderson has set up a Facebook page to support his friend and that page has so far garnered some 3000 friends.

Michael Sobata, who is the retired founding executive director of AIDS Thunder Bay, has been surprise and heartened by the outpouring of support across all ranges. “I used to think this was so last century. Do these incidences stop? It’s scandalous and shameful that they don’t. There’s a new generation of individuals who think it’s cool to prey on someone because of a difference in sexual orientation. This issue crosses orientations, genders and family status.”

“We need to make a bold statement that we reject hate crimes in our community,” according to Sobata. The rally is the first step in the process of making such crimes harder to perpetrate. The LGBT community in Thunder Bay are hoping to get a greater police presence in and around Pier 61, where the assault began, and increased community based policing is being set up so that future incidents do not occur.

Thunder Bay Man injured in Homophobic Attack
Thunder Bay rallies against homophobic attack