News and Events => Opinions & Editorials => Topic started by: Shana A on November 14, 2009, 10:04:20 AM Return to Full Version

Title: Did "gay panic" spark blaze at Winnipeg bathhouse?
Post by: Shana A on November 14, 2009, 10:04:20 AM

Did "gay panic" spark blaze at Winnipeg bathhouse?
MANITOBA / Alleged arsonist was "tricked" into having sex with another man, says friend
Kaj Hasselriis / National / Friday, November 13, 2009

http://www.xtra.ca/public/National/Did_gay_panic_spark_blaze_at_Winnipeg_bathhouse-7827.aspx (http://www.xtra.ca/public/National/Did_gay_panic_spark_blaze_at_Winnipeg_bathhouse-7827.aspx)

A friend of one of the two men who died in a Winnipeg bathhouse fire says he doesn't believe the alleged arsonist's excuse — that the accused man started the fire because he was "tricked" into having sex with another man.

"Let's call a spade a spade," says Bert Royer, whose friend Gene Clark died in the blaze at Aquarius Spa on Oct 11. "(The alleged arsonist) knew what he was doing."

Justin Rosdobutko, a 25-year-old factory worker, is facing two counts of manslaughter in connection with the fire, which happened during one of Aquarius' co-ed nights. A friend of Rosdobutko who went with him to the bathhouse told the Winnipeg Free Press that Rosdobutko was "upset" that he had sex with a drag queen, thinking that it was really a woman.