Drag artist Kevin Aviance is used to having his picture in the papers.
Just not when his jaw is wired shut.
By now, most of the gay community knows the story of what happened that muggy summer night last June when Aviance exited popular bar the Phoenix, in New York City's East Village: four men, aged 17 to 21, brutally attacked and beat the chart-topping performer, leaving him battered and bloodied on the street. According to the Associated Press, 'the men followed Aviance, called him derogatory names and threw two garbage bags and a paint can at the singer before surrounding and attacking him.' After the violence ended, a passing stranger walked Aviance to Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan, where he received treatment for injuries, including a broken jaw and a bruised knee.
And that was just the beginning of the grief and terror to follow.
More than the physical damage to his body, the mental tragedy Aviance experienced raised painful questions: How could this happen? What do I do? Will I ever be safe again?
In one of his first interviews since that dreadful night a year ago this month, Aviance talks candidly about what actually happened that night, his recovery, the death threats, leaving the Big Apple, forgiving his attackers, and, in true Aviance fashion, his new line of women's shoes.
Because, well, you can't keep a good girl down.
Michael Knipp: If it's not too difficult to talk about, can you tell me what actually happened the night you were attacked?
Kevin Aviance: [ I had ] just finished a photo shoot and I was having a great day. I was walking home, I was dressed normal. I passed by a group of young men when one of them made a comment. I kept walking and minding my own business, but they wouldn't leave me alone. The next thing I knew I was on the ground and they were kicking me. I was told later that I was kicked in the head over 30 times.
MK: What was going through your mind?
KA: I knew I did not want my story to end like that.
MK: At the time of the attack, you had been performing in New York for a long time. Did you ever imagine something like this could happen?
KA: Never. I believed New York to be very safe. I had lived there for such a long time and I had never had problems before.
MK: Four suspects were arrested under New York's hate-crime law—and subsequently sentenced to prison—but reports say that up to seven men were involved in the attack. How many guys were there?
KA: I know for a fact that four guys were involved.
MK: Do you think you were targeted specifically, or were you just in the wrong place at the wrong time?
KA: Wrong place, wrong time.
MK: Have you seen or spoken to your attackers since that night last June —perhaps in court? If so, what did you say to them? If not, what would you say to them?
KA: No, I have not seen them at all.
MK: Have you forgiven these men for what they did to you?
KA: I was brought up to forgive those who do wrong so, yes, in many ways I have forgiven them.
MK: How have your fans supported you through this?
KA: If it wasn't for my fans and friends, I really don't know where I would be.
MK: Since the attacks, you've received numerous death threats. How do you handle that?
KA: I received threats during the trial, but now that the matter is resolved they have thankfully stopped.
MK: You've also dealt with accusations that you provoked the attack. What do you say to that?
KA: I've never responded to any of those accusations, nor will I ever acknowledge them.
MK: Because of the intensity of the ongoing trials following the attack, you've moved from New York.
KA: I needed a place to completely heal so I moved away. It's been six months. The move was the best thing for me. It's hard to heal in the spotlight. It's hard to live up to your own madness. I needed a place to rest and work on my music and my new shoe line.
MK: But by leaving the city you called home, do you feel it sends a message to your attackers that they've won?
KA: No. I don't believe so at all. I'm not gone from NYC forever and I didn't leave because of them. I left because of me. I needed to work on my soul and find myself again. I really couldn't do it with all the press around me all the time.
MK: It's been a year since the attacks. Are you more cautious than you were before? Are you constantly watching your back now? Or have you regained your sense of security, considering that security was there in the first place?
KA: I'm not 100 percent there yet, but I'm working on it.
MK: What are you doing now to make sure that these kind of things don't happen to anyone else? Working with legislators? Crusading for victims' rights?
KA: I can and will do as much as I can, but first I need to work on myself and the pain of it. You see, it's hard to stand for other when you cannot stand for yourself.
MK: Obviously there's a physical toll the attack took on you, but mentally what did it do to you?
KA: It made me feel beaten in a lot of ways—in ways I have never felt before.
MK: Have you fully recovered?
KA: I still have some aches and pains and mentally I'm better than I was six months ago, but not complete.
MK: How have you changed since the attack? Are you performing?
KA: I am so grateful for life. I am performing. I will never stop performing.
MK: During your recovery, you found solace in designing your own collection of women's shoes which you'll launch this summer through Global Footwear Partners. How has this new project helped you get back to life? Where can women find the shoes when the line launches?
KA: Before going into treatment I met with Global Footwear Partners and it was great. I love shoes. Anytime you work on any kind of art it helps. And shoes are not only a fetish, they are now my art. Women can find my shoes online at www.kevinavianceworld.com and at retailers nationwide.
MK: It's pride season, perhaps a bittersweet time of year for you now, but where will you be this summer?
KA: Pride has always been a celebration for me and I always get to celebrate it more than once. I am so lucky to be able to travel to different places to meet gay people around the world. [ Anyone ] can check my Web site for the dates.
MK: Finally, any words for your fans?
KA: Thank you so much for helping me through a very hard year. If it wasn't for my fans I really don't know where I'd be.
Michael A. Knipp is a Baltimore-based freelancer and the founder of Line/Byline Communications. Visit him at www.myspace.com/roxmikey.
