A gay senior
citizen whose passion was to get the Michigan State capitol
dome lit up in red, white, and blue clings to life Thursday
after a hate attack.
The attack in
Detroit left 72-year-old Andrew Anthos paralyzed from the
neck down and virtually without speech.
Anthos, who lives
on a disability check, was riding the bus from the
public library back to his apartment February 13 when
another male passenger approached him and asked if he
was gay Anthos's niece Athena Fedenis told Gay.com.
Anthos left the bus only to be followed by the man,
who hit him in the back of the head with a metal pipe, then
fled.
Detroit police
are investigating, as is the Triangle Foundation, but were
hampered partly because Anthos arrived at the hospital
unable to speak and needing emergency surgery. A
fellow passenger, an acquaintance of Anthos's who uses
a wheelchair, was able to give police a description of
the attacker.
Anthos was
unconscious Thursday at Detroit Receiving Hospital.
"This is a hate
crime against someone who never had a bad thought
against anybody," a sobbing Fedenis said Thursday at his
bedside. "He sang angelically, he spoke eloquently, he
didn't care what anyone said about Detroit--he thought
it was a great place to live."
Anthos, a
die-hard patriot and Ava Gardner fan, is known in Michigan
for his years-long campaign to illuminate the dome of
the state capitol for one night each year in red,
white, and blue lights.
"It would show a
sign of Michigan's patriotism and its loyalty," Anthos
told The State News, a Michigan State University
paper, in 2003. "It's simply a beacon--a light of
color--to lift spirits and encourage us through times
like now."
State officials
at the time offered moral support but little action,
citing a cost "probably...in the six figures," Michigan
Capitol Committee chief Jerry Lawler told the News.
Now, said
Fedenis, Anthos "made me promise to work on his behalf"
for the lighting project.
The assailant is
described as a light-skinned black man, no more than 23
years old, about 5 foot 7 and 150 pounds, wearing a dark
coat and pants. (Barbara Wilcox, The
Advocate)