I'm a hometown boy. Always have been. I grew up in a small town with strong family roots and people everywhere knowin' my name. I would probably still be in my hometown had I not been gay.

I left home for college and haven't really lived there since.

Back in mid-October, a gay man walking the streets of my hometown was mercilessly beaten. Because he's gay.

The alleged attackers are now in custody, awaiting grand jury.

The victim of the hate crime recently spoke to Elmira's Star Gazette about the beating.

...He tried to crawl away, but the two men continued to beat him. They pushed, kicked and dragged him across the street to a yard overgrown with trees and bushes -- a place where they could beat him without being seen.

Jaimie Brigg's story is chilling. "You're going to die tonight, faggot."

Briggs' ordeal has troubled me on a few levels. I'm conflicted, as I want to defend the area I grew up in, but I also know all too well the ignorance that exists in that town.