Shaq helps raise awareness.

Mark Shawley and his partner, Jeff Krainess, were thankful when NBA star Shaquille O'Neal chased down two men he witnessed attacking them in Miami Beach, Fla. O'Neal aided in the arrest of the accused gay bashers by following them until he could flag down a Miami Beach officer.

But Shawley and Krainess's thanks stop there. "Way too much media attention has been given to Shaq, Shaq, Shaq as a hero," Shawley said. "But maybe it's good, because it's calling attention to a big problem."

Shawley and Krainess were holding hands while walking near their South Beach home when two men in a Honda pulled up. "One guy got out and was screaming ;You fucking fags,'" Shawley said. "He struck me in the back with a bottle, and it shattered. Then he jumped back in the car." O'Neal, who is training to be a Miami Beach reserve officer, was driving by and pursued the assailants.

Shawley said antigay hate crimes are common in South Beach and elsewhere, but the media seldom pay attention. "When Howard Stern and Regis and Kelly and CNN are talking about Shaq helping two gay guys being attacked," he said, "we need to leverage that and say there is a huge violence problem against people who are gay."