A Benton Harbor man is recently attacked at a gas station and he says it's because he's gay.

No matter the motive, police are still looking for the criminal.

Physically, the victim is okay with just a few bumps and bruises. Emotionally, he's devastated, afraid and as he says, “really messed up.”

Out of fear, the victim asked us not to tell you his name or show his face, but there's no hiding his message - hate crimes, no matter how scarce, are scary and scarring.

The victim, a middle-age man, recently went to buy a newspaper at the Sunoco gas station on Pipestone Road in Benton Township. The next thing he knew, a stranger punched him in the face. The victim says he slipped on the ice and the attacker kept kicking him while calling him offensive slurs because he's gay.

The victim is still feeling the vibrations from the attack.

“It's totally torn my life apart,” he says.

He says he wishes one thing on his attacker: an open mind.

“When you're making hateful statements, you're making hateful statements to someone who you love and someone who loves you and you're building a wall,” says the victim.

“Hate crimes reported to Benton Township are almost non-existent. I think we've had one that I'm aware of in the last 16 years,” says Benton Township Deputy Chief Carl DeLand.

People at a gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual support and advocacy group in Benton Harbor, called Outcenter, say crimes against gays and lesbians happen often. They're just not always reported.

“At the end of the day, violence against any people is unacceptable,” says Jennifer Hsu, Outcenter. “A lot of people were really supportive and they said, 'We can't be scared, because the moment that we're scared, we become victims.'”

“The most powerful thing that people can be reminded of is that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are your family. They're your friends. Even if you may not know it, we're such an integrated part of the community that an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us,” says Hsu.

The victim says he has no idea who attacked him and police are still looking for him.

They're on the look-out for a black man with light skin in his 30's, about 5'7".