Eric Scheie found a story that slipped under my radar — but surprisingly it hasn’t made many national headlines, either. Details:
Luke Fleischman, who also goes by the name Sasha, was asleep Monday on an AC Transit bus in Oakland when police say that another passenger set ablaze the kilt-like skirt he was wearing. Other passengers came to his aid after he tried to put out the flames himself.
Debbie Fleischman told the Oakland Tribune that her son will require massive skin grafting. She also said she is torn about whether the fire was a prank, or if her son was targeted because he was wearing a skirt.
Luke Fleischman is listed in stable condition at a San Francisco hospital after suffering second- and third-degree burns on his legs.
Eric adds:
It’s a horrific story, and in many ways, the facts are worse than the Matthew Shepard case, because those particular sleazebags not only didn’t set their victim on fire, but they had known him in advance. Also, there is a serious dispute over whether the Shepard attack was in fact motivated by homophobia, but in this case, the attacker outright admitted it to the police.
I’m thinking that this isn’t national news because the details don’t fit the narrative of the left. Gay bashers are supposed to be “cracker” types, and from anywhere but the San Francisco Bay Area.
Sheppard’s gay lover was with him in Wyoming. Fleischman’s homophobic attacker was riding public transportation in Berkeley.
The Narrative™ is never what they tell you it is.
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