Wade St. Germain and his husband R.J. Baker have made a living at their bar, Cabernet Frank’s. Wade said it's a bar that welcomes everyone.

“Having a place where everyone can come together," he said. "All kinds, LGBTQ, straight people, everybody comes here and is hopefully feeling safe and comfortable.”

Only they say not everyone has been welcoming to them. Wade said they have faced years of harassment. The couple has even gone as far as getting orders of protection, but they don’t feel any safer.

“The window was shot out when my husband was sitting, working in front of it," St. Germain said. "One pane of glass shattered. Lucky it was a two pane window. That was terrifying.”

Lynn Eckert, a political science professor at Marist College, said it’s part of a dangerous trend for LGBTQ people. According to FBI crime statistics, reported anti-LGBTQ hate crimes increased by 17% from 2014 to 2020.

“Often, what proceeds hate crimes is really vicious, vitriol directed against someone’s status, someone’s immutable characteristics and then what often flows from that is violence," Eckert said.

She also pointed to social media as a cause of this increased violence. She said more needs to be done so that blatant hate speech is not promoted on these sites. She added that rhetoric from Republican politicians that label LGBTQ people as groomers has a part in the violence.

“This rhetoric has real-world effects on the way people are treated in everyday life and then, in the most extreme cases, like the incident in Colorado, it can mean the end of one’s life," Eckert said.

St. Germain and Baker aren’t going anywhere. Despite the hate they’ve experienced, they have love and support from an entire community that cherishes the bar. They just hope that hateful rhetoric disguised as politics stops.

“It’s really alarming and so hurtful and disappointing that LGBTQ people have to undergo this kind of treatment and fear," St. Germain said.