It was his tight, white jeans, snakeskin shoes and the fairy that Nima Daivari wore on a chain around his neck that prompted a stranger to call him a faggot and attack him.

And it was Daivari's boxing training that led him to pound back at his assailant, headlocking him until police arrived at the scene on the 16th Street Mall.

What happened next is tougher to explain.

A Denver cop not only refused to press charges, but he wouldn't investigate the hate crime or even bother to take the attacker's name.

In the end, the bad guy slipped away, the officer was slapped on the wrist and now Daivari has lost his civil-rights case because the city says Daivari, as a gay man, has no constitutional right to require an arrest.

Something is wrong with this story.

"So basically anyone can walk up, assault a gay man on a crowded street and Denver essentially ignores it. That's messed up, and people there should know it," says Daivari, 26, a recent law school graduate in New York City.

On St. Patrick's Day 2007, he was on his first and only visit to Denver when he, his cousin and her boyfriend were walking home from dinner at a 16th Street eatery.

"What may be the most embarrassing thing is that I have to admit to everyone that I actually ate at the Cheesecake Factory," Daivari quips.

Suddenly, a pedestrian passed by and yelled, "Keep that faggot away from me."

"Excuse me?" asked Daivari, who then was punched in the head by the assailant.

Daivari reacted with a few jabs of his own and held his attacker until police broke up the fight.

Officer Richard Boehnlein refused Daivari's repeated demands to press charges, telling him, "No, go home."

Daivari's complaint resulted in a finding that the officer should have at least documented the case and probably arrested his attacker. Boehnlein was reprimanded merely with "a fine of one regular day off."

The city refused Daivari's settlement request that Boehnlein undergo sensitivity training.

Assistant City Attorney John Eckhardt touts Denver's support for gay and lesbian rights, saying, "The training the city provides its police officers is exemplary in these areas."

So exemplary, in fact, that Eckhardt asserted it was "not evident" to police "that Mr. Daivari is a homosexual," even after he told them his story.

"Come on, I look like a raging homo," Daivari says proudly.

"Officers must use discretion in deciding when and where (to take reports)," Eckhardt argued in denying Daivari's claim that police inaction was a result of Daivari's "outwardly homosexual appearance, his failure to conform to male gender stereotypes."

U.S. District Judge Zita Weinshienk dismissed the case Thursday, holding that no rights were violated. Gay men are not a protected class under the Constitution.

Says Daivari's lawyer, Jessica West: "The city of Denver essentially claimed that gays and lesbians in Denver live without any right to police protection. I certainly hope that they are wrong."

So should we all.

Justice has failed Nima Daivari, who vows never to return to Denver.

"I would much rather they arrested the guy who attacked me so there would be a mug shot out there of him with his face ----ed up by a homo," he says. "But the city deprived me that right and seems perfectly comfortable with its cops letting hate criminals beat people up and walk free."

Gay attack swept under the shrug - The Denver Post

"No right" to demand an arrest, after an assault...

The officer was DEFINITELY wrong, but I don't see proof that the reason he didn't take the report was because of homosexuality...

I've seen fights broken up plenty of times by cops who just "clear the area" without putting forth a report...even when asked...AND I know for a fact that certain cops don't like to do reports when the end of their shift is coming up in 30 minutes and filing a report will make them work later than they wanted...

Is it right?...absolutely not...

But these are things that could be the reason OTHER than simply accusing the officer of anti-homosexuality behavior...There is nothing in this article that shows that anti-homosexuality IS the reason...

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"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd

except the facts, of course

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"No man is happy without a delusion of some kind. Delusions are as necessary to our happiness as realities."
...Christian Nestell Bovee

Could please show us where the officer in question refused to correctly handle the situation based purely on the vics homosexuality. IMO, while the officer completely failed in his duties, the vic is also trying to make himself not only a victim of the assault (very legitimately so), but also the self-created victim of the officer. It's the usual crap we hear from the homosexual fringe - "I'm a victim becuase I'm gay." Yes, there are instances where this is true and the assault is one of them, but the officer's response has not been shown to be one. It could very well be that the officer was simply an idiot who didn't like homosexuals or it could be a case of him looking at the guy who got his ass kicked and deciding that he'd been punished enough and let it slide (not an OK decision, IMO), but as of yet I haven't seen enough info to decide either way. You, OTH, have seen enough to create a victim where one may or may not exist, but the fact that the guy was a homosexual is enough for you to make him a victim.

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Our nation has not always lived up to its ideals, yet those ideals have never ceased to guide us. They expose our flaws, and lead us to mend them. We are the beneficiaries of the work of the generations before us and it is each generation's responsibility to continue that work. - Laura Bush

God is a conservative -

Ecclesiastes 10:2--"A wise man's heart inclines him to the right, but a fool's heart to the left."

While I would have the tendency to err in favor of the underrepresented, there are not enough facts to charge the officer with a crime other than negligence.

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I'm agreeing, but if anyone asks me publicly, I'll deny it!...

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"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd

It happens every day. Some people actually announce to their friends, "I think I'll go roll some queers."
And I never thought about it. I'm ashamed to admit to myself more than to anyone here, that this is the first time I ever thought of it as a civil rights violation. I don't mean I would condone beating anyone up. But I have overheard
things like this or people talking after the fact. I usually think they are just making it up to look good to their cracker buds. But come to think of it, if someone was sitting around in a bar or restaurant talking about going to roll some black guys or say someone talked about how they already beat up a Mexican or whatever. That would be evidence of a crime. Now it is a crime to beat anyone up granted, but if they were over heard stating that they singled out a person of color, that would be some heavy charges there. Hhmmm...
In some places homosexual officers are assigned to homosexual areas of town. I think that is wise. But a person cannot be made a prisoner in their own little Apartheid either. I mean an individual does have the right to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Epiphany.

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"But homosexuality isn't like being of a different culture" or so the hatemongers would have you believe. And just on a side note, I am uncomfortable in the homosexual area of town when I'm in a town that has a gaytto. I think that homosexuals should be able to feel comfortable living in any section of town and I don't think there should be gay cops for gay areas or black cops for black areas, I think we should expect all of our officers to uphold the law. Period.

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You are right of course. But that would be in a finished world. In a transitional one I think the cops idea is a good one.
I'd also like to see butt headed cops weeded out. Don't think that's going to happen soon either. Cops used to be more helpful and level headed. There are some real doozies nowadays.

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Frugal tip: To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple in the bag with the potatoes.

How to Fold a Shirt

Salty's Blog

Sorry, but I had to do it.....

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Our nation has not always lived up to its ideals, yet those ideals have never ceased to guide us. They expose our flaws, and lead us to mend them. We are the beneficiaries of the work of the generations before us and it is each generation's responsibility to continue that work. - Laura Bush

God is a conservative -

Ecclesiastes 10:2--"A wise man's heart inclines him to the right, but a fool's heart to the left."