Canadian gay rights activist killed outside bar
A popular Canadian gay rights activist has been beaten to death in what may be a homophobic attack outside a bar in his hometown of Halifax.
Rachael healy
Wednesday, 18 April 2012
Forty-nine year-old Raymond Taavel (pictured) was leaving local gay bar Menz in the early hours of Tuesday morning when a man shouting homophobic remarks attacked Taavel’s friend.
Stepping in to break it up, Taavel was then set upon by the assailant.
Wolf Engelberg, whose house overlooks the scene of the incident, told CTV Atlantic: “He was consistently using the word faggot. That’s what drew my attention to the situation in the first place. There was a blatantly homophobic slant to the things which he was saying and it was very clear that his primary issue was one with the man’s sexuality.”
The suspect, now identified as psychiatric patient Andre Noel Denny, 32, fled the scene. Police dogs later found him in a nearby alley.
Police officers had been searching for Denny, a patient at the East Coast Forensic Unit, after he failed to return from a one-hour, unsupervised leave earlier that evening.
Denny is expected to appear at Halifax provincial court today, charged with second-degree murder.
Kevin Kindred, Taavel’s close friend and spokesperson for the Nova Scotia Rainbow Action group, told CTV: “I certainly think that people are going to continue to exercise caution and be looking out for their personal safety.
“On the other hand, it’s also a lot of people talking today about reclaiming our right to feel safe on the street.”
Businesses in Halifax displayed rainbow pictures in their windows, and flags were hung along in the street as a tribute to Taavel.
Yesterday, hundreds of people attended a candlelit vigil on the street where Taavel was murdered. Friends shared memories of the well-known campaigner with the gathered crowd.
Photo from Facebook.
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