Gay Couple's Mobile
Home Torched in Fla.
By AP from the
NYTimes on the Web, July 29, 2005
LAKELAND, Fla. -- A mobile
home belonging to a gay couple was torched and an epithet was spray-painted on
the front steps, authorities said.
Paul Day, 25, and Christopher Robertson, 23, returned home from errands Monday
to find their house in Lakeland burned and the words ''Die Fag'' spray-painted
on the front steps.
Officials remained tightlipped about whether it was being investigated as a hate
crime, which would allow for enhanced criminal penalties.
When Day moved to the mobile-home park a couple of years ago, he said a group of
teens and young adults sometimes taunted him as he checked his mail.
''I tried to not associate with people here,'' said Day, who works at an
auto-parts store. ''We've just tried to stay to ourselves.''
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