Last week a little story ran in the French gay magazine Têtu. The news itself wasn't very interesting: the arrest of a gay-basher.

Here was a 25-year-old married man who had gone to a gay bar in Paris, picked up a man of 50 something, led him back to his car where an accomplice was waiting. They beat the poor man almost into oblivion and stole his bank card and cell phone. So far a very run-of-the-mill story.

Then Paul Parant writes,

According to Le Parisien, which quotes someone close to the investigation, "He didn't give a damn about the sexual orientation of his victim. The victim was simply easier to entrap than a hetero. This isn't the result of homophobia but rather of opportunism." [a Simply Appalling translation]

Am I the only one who finds this odd—the claim that these acts were not the result of homophobia but simply taking advantage of an "opportunity"?

Are the women of Paris so formidable that you're better off taking on a man in his 50s? Instead of going to a gay bar, wouldn't it be more convenient just to wait near your car for a well-heeled victim? Couldn't you find someone on crutches or maybe in a wheelchair? And why the severe beating? If you wanted more time for a getaway, why not just gag him and tie him to a tree? Or drop him off at a remote spot?

Was this homophobia? What do you think?

Tags: * gay homophobia homophobe France Paris crime robbery assault