Anti-Gay Attacker Is No Match For West Point Couple

The men were the first same-sex couple to get married in the school's chapel.

A same-sex couple came face to face with hate in New York City on Sunday.

West Point Military Academy graduates Larry Lennox-Choate and his husband, Daniel, were shopping in a bodega in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood when a man began shouting anti-gay slurs at them and punched Daniel.

The victim sustained minor injuries to his mouth, the New York Police Department confirmed to The Huffington Post. The case is being investigated as a hate crime and the unidentified suspect, a white male who left the scene on a gray bicycle, is still wanted.

In a Facebook post about the incident, Larry said the attacker chose the wrong couple to target.

"We refuse to be victims and are thankful we can defend ourselves, but are saddened by the fact that idiots like this guy might not pick two guys who went through Plebe Boxing next time," he wrote in part.

Daniel graduated from West Point in 2007 and Larry two years later, according to The New York Times. The two began dating in 2012 and got engaged months later. In 2013, they became the first same-sex male couple to get married at their alma mater's Cade Chapel. At the time, same-sex marriage was not legal nationwide, but Larry told the Times many people were supportive of their love.

"It’s funny," he said. "I think just because the sort of negative stories are the ones that seem to be reported the most -- especially when we were in Georgia, we anticipated running into more of that. And that was a lesson that we learned throughout the process: just to give more people the benefit of the doubt."

Neither Larry nor Daniel immediately responded to a request for comment.

Also on HuffPost:

"No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family."

Celebrations Of Same-Sex Marriage

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot