A portrait of Satender Singh rests on his grandmother's table. Sacramento Bee photo by Kevin German

Anti-gay American crusaders, including Redmond's Ken Hutcherson and Oregon's Scott Lively have celebrated the anti-gay energy brought to their movements by evangelical churches for Russian-speaking emigres from former Soviet republics. A recent assault in Sacramento shows the danger of that "energy" when misdirected. The death in Sacramento early this month of Satender Singh, a 26-year old immigrant from Fiji, has riled tensions there between the city's large Slavic immigrant population and the LGBT folk against whom some of the Slavs have demonstrated. The Sacramento Bee has detailed the still-unsolved July 1 hate crime and reactions to it.

Singh was picnicking near Lake Natoma with a small group of Fijian and Indian friends when the attack occurred, according to two people with him that day. The Bee is not identifying the friends because they fear retribution. Singh was at the park that Sunday to celebrate a promotion he had earned at his call center job, according to the friends, and the group was drinking and dancing to Indian music. Singh was the only one without a date, and was hugging and dancing with other men. In the hours preceding the attack, a group described as Russian-speaking hurled explicit gay slurs and racial remarks at Singh and his party, according to witnesses and sheriff's officials. When Singh and his friends tried to leave around 8 p.m., they were confronted by the Slavic group and a fight ensued, the witnesses said. Singh was punched -- once -- in the face. He fell backward and cracked his head, rupturing a part of the brain stem that controls most of life's functions. He died four days later.

A 911 call to the sheriff's office from Wolfgang Chargin warned them that tension was brewing at the park between the two groups.

The Russian-speaking group seemed especially offended by Singh, 26, who was dancing with both men and women, Chargin said. At one point, Singh's party went into the water and one of the men in the other group walked over and spit on their blankets, Chargin said. The man then went to the lake's edge and shouted something at them that they seemed to find especially shocking, Chargin said. After watching several verbal exchanges between the two groups, Chargin called 911. He stressed that Singh's group was never aggressive but they were confronted several times.

The county sheriff said his officers responded to the call, but could not locate the groups.

In her Sacramento home, Satender Singh's grandmother, Chand Singh mourns, the death of her grandson. Sacramento Bee photo by Kevin German

The crime and the reaction to it highlight a social tension that has been developing in Sacramento and other communities for years where evangelical Christian Slavic immigrants have staged aggressive anti-gay protests.

In death, [Singh] has emerged as a symbol of wounds that have festered for some time between Sacramento's gay community and members of the Slavic evangelical community, a thousands-strong group that has become a vocal force denouncing gay rights. It is that rhetoric, some contend, that fueled the attack on Singh earlier this month at Lake Natoma. "This homicide sort of brings to light what has been feared," said Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, who attended a vigil for Singh last week. "It's tragic evidence of a larger point." [SacBee]

Although Sacramento police have characterized the case as a "high priority," they haven't yet identified Singh's attackers.

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