Within the past week, the number of gay-related hate crimes committed that were witnessed worldwide has rattled the gay community its core.

On Friday May 17, in Tbilisi, Georgia, thousands of anti-gay protestors took to the streets, threatening to physically assault any participant in the gay pride parade that was scheduled to take place the same day. Posters that read, “We don’t need Sodom and Gomorrah,” and “Democracy does not equal immortality,” filled the streets to protest “homosexual propaganda.” The protest resulted in the cancellation of the gay pride parade, leaving dozens of LGBT members injured and afraid. While Georgia’s human rights ombudsman, Uchi Nanuashvili, said that it is “deplorable” that gay people’s constitutional rights were violated, many members of the community beg to differ. 21-year-old Nikolai Kiladze says, “”We are against the propaganda of homosexuality. “If we need to allow parades like this in order to become a member of the European Union or other Western organizations and blocs, then I’m against joining these organizations.”

On Saturday, Mark Carson was shot dead in Greenwich Village in what is now being identified as a hate crime. Three men walking near Sixth Avenue and Eighth Street assaulted Carson and another man while yelling homophobic slurs like asking them if they were “gay wrestlers,” and, “Do you want to die here?” After one of the attackers took off, 32-year-old Mark Carson was shot in the face by one of his assailants. He died at Beth Israel Hospital following the attack.

The murder was on the heels of four other attacks in New York, all believed to be gay hate crimes. Even just before the time of print, two other attacks have been reported. Nightlife promoter Dan Contarino was brutally beaten just hours after a rally against anti-LGBT violence. Witnesses who came to Contarino’s aid heard his attacker shouting anti-gay slurs while kicking the victim repeatedly. A gay couple, 41 and 42, were also attacked late night Monday night in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan. The couple were attacked by two men who started yelling anti-gay remarks in both English and Spanish (the victims were Hispanic.) Both victims were punched, with one suffering an eye injury. Two men, ages 32 and 33, were arrested and face charges of assault in a hate crime.

The crimes have all surfaced following the recent legalization of same-sex marriage in multiple states and countries worldwide, leaving many to speculate that there is a connection between gay marriage and the surge of hate crimes.