Gay couple says they were attacked in D.C. by a group referencing monkeypox

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said late Tuesday she is “extremely disturbed” by a possible hate crime in which a group of teens allegedly referenced monkeypox and used an anti-gay slur before attacking a gay couple.

The couple was walking toward a bus stop on Seventh Street NW in the Shaw neighborhood on Sunday when they encountered the group. They said the teens referenced the viral outbreak and used the slur.

“One of them comes up to me and punches me in the jaw, giving me a gash right here that needed about three stitches,” Antonio told NBC News4 Washington, though asked the outlet not to use his last name.

He said his boyfriend was bruised.

The couple reported the attack to D.C. police as officials across the country try to deliver vaccines and other forms of help to persons at-risk of contracting monkeypox without stigmatizing gay and bisexual men.

Anyone can contract monkeypox through close personal contact, though an estimated 98% of U.S. cases since mid-spring have been recorded in men who have sex with men, as the virus circulated through these social networks.

The reported incident evoked earlier days of the COVID-19 pandemic when the Asian community reported an uptick in bias and attacks due to the initial discovery of the coronavirus in Wuhan, China.

Ms. Bowser released a statement condemning the D.C. incident.

“We must stand up for our friends and neighbors, especially right now when there is too much anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric sweeping our nation,” the Democratic mayor said. “We must call out the people in our circles if they promote hateful or ignorant ideology, especially right now when people are using public health to stigmatize and discriminate against members of the LGBTQ+ community.”

Antonio told NBC he was angry about the ignorance that appeared to fuel the attack.

However, “I’m not shocked by it,” he said. “I think it’s been a buildup over the last couple of months and years of conversations we’ve had about LGBTQ people. It can happen here.”