San Diego Pride Leader Attacked By Anti-gay Protestor

Rex Wockner reports that Ron deHarte, the executive director of San Diego LGBT Pride, was attacked by a protester as deHarte took part in the Equality Torch Relay, an 18-city commemoration of the Stonewall Riots.

"From sunrise to nearly sundown, we carried the message of equality to every city in San Diego County," the organization said in a statement. "The need to raise awareness of homophobia and LGBT discrimination echoed through the community when one of the event organizers was attacked for carrying a rainbow flag in Lemon Grove."

In an interview the following day, deHarte said: "I was waiting for the Equality Torch Relay to come by Main and Broadway and standing in front of the famous overly life-size lemon (statue), and with a rainbow flag big as day ... and someone decided to remove me from Lemon Grove."He started whaling on me and tried to take the flag away and made it very clear he didn't think I should be there: 'Get out of here. What do you think you're doing? You need to get the fuck out of here. Get that out of here. There's no place for you here.'

"All the while, he was grabbing at the rainbow flag and trying to take it away from me. And he was kicking me and slapping. He hit me good a couple of times. ... I got the side of his fist the first time he hit me, then I think he got my lower jaw on another time. He kicked me a few times. I wasn't bleeding or anything. It certainly hurt. I certainly had soreness as the day went on, and this morning when I woke up, I realized my upper lip was swollen and the inside of my cheek was cut up."

DeHarte was not seriously injured and his assailant was arrested and charged. Below, a local news crew happened to capture a couple of seconds of the incident.