Gay Couple Violently Attacked and Called Monkeypox Slur in D.C.

Several teenagers allegedly assaulted a gay couple in Northwest Washington, D.C.'s Shaw neighborhood on Sunday afternoon after calling them "monkeypox fa***ts."

The incident marks one of the first reported attacks on members of the LGBTQ+ community related to the monkeypox (MPV) outbreak.

The Advocate obtained a copy of the police report, stating that two men were walking south on Sunday on 7th Street N.W. at 5:43 p.m. Several young men approached the couple and punched them after first calling them "monkeypox fa**ots."

Metro Weekly reports that after an afternoon at a public swimming pool and the gay bar Kiki, two men, 25 and 23, were walking to a bus stop. The first wore a Hawaiian shirt, while the second wore a white crop top decorated with a rainbow Polaroid logo.

Near Shaw/Howard University Metro Station, the two met five teenage boys and two teen girls.

The male teenagers assumed the couple was gay and made homophobic remarks toward them, including calling them "monkeypox fa**ots."

A teenager came up to them from behind. As one of the men turned to face the teen, the teen punched him in the forehead, according to Metro Weekly. The second victim was then punched in the face, and another teenager struck the first victim, breaking his glasses in the process.

A woman who witnessed the assault from her balcony called 911.

As the police arrived, the alleged attackers fled. The girls in the group apologized to the couple.

“I was kind of pissed and said something along the lines of ‘This is who you hang out with? That’s f----d up,’” one of the men told Metro Weekly. “But one of them said their dad was gay and it was messed up that they attacked us. But I was still pretty pissed at the whole incident, so I let them pass.”

The police who came to the scene took the men to the hospital.

"I feel like the officers on the scene were nice, or at least pretty kind to us," one of the victims told Metro Weekly. "It was nice that they showed some shock and concern for our health. It was really nice that they took us to the E.R. so we didn't have to pay for an ambulance."