Two years ago, Larry Lennox-Choate III and Daniel Lennox-Choate made headlines as the first gay male couple to marry at West Point, where they attended college, and now the pair is in the news for their powerful responses to a homophobic attack in New York City.

This past weekend, Larry Lennox-Choate shared on Facebook that he and his husband were targeted at a SoHo bodega by a homophobic man who yelled slurs at them before throwing a punch. The man didn't seem to know he picked a fight with West Point graduates, who undergo rigorous physical demands, and got his butt kicked as a result.

While Lennox-Choate was relieved he and his partner were fine, he was disturbed by the prospect of this man going after someone else who might not be equipped to defend themselves.

"[The homophobic attacker] left covered in his own blood with his tail between his legs after I handled the situation and tossed him in the street like the coward loser he is," Larry Lennox-Choate wrote. "The hate crimes division of the NYPD is on the case and we have full faith a positive outcome will follow. We refuse to be victims and are thankful we can defend ourselves, but are saddened by the fact that idiots like this guy might not pick two guys who went through Plebe Boxing next time."

Manhattan may be a progressive place, but this is far from the first anti-gay hate crime the city has faced. Two years ago, a gunman used homophobic slurs before fatally shooting a gay man walking with his companion in Greenwich Village. Much of Manhattan reacted with outrage to the senseless killing and thousands protested in the streets in response to the tragedy.

"New York City has zero tolerance for intolerance," then-mayor Michael Bloomberg said at the time. "We are a place that celebrates diversity ... hate crimes like these are an offense against all we stand for as a city, and we will do everything possible to stop them."