By Travis Gettys
Enquirer contributor

NEWPORT - A man accused of a hate crime will likely stay behind bars until his next court appearance after a district court judge raised his bond to $50,000.

Steven Ard, 38, has been in jail in lieu of $5,000 bond since June 26That's when police say he hit Matthew Ashcraft, 19, in the back of the head with an aluminum baseball bat outside a bar on Monmouth Street.

Ard appeared Thursday in Campbell County District Court, where he waived his preliminary hearing in favor of a grand jury hearing later this summer on felony charges of first-degree assault.

Ard told police he was acting in self-defense when he struck Ashcraft, who suffered a fractured skull, a blood clot and cranial bleeding, as well as hearing damage.

"A baseball bat in the head (is much different than) a baseball bat to the knees to protect yourself," said Judge Karen Thomas, who more than doubled the $20,000 bond requested by prosecutors.

Ashcraft had come to the aid of Leon Hughes of Newport outside Woolly's On Monmouth, a bar with many gay patrons, after Ard allegedly began shouting slurs and taunting Hughes.

"I'd never met him in my life," said Hughes, adding that he was grateful for Ashcraft's help.

Officer Greg Ripberger told Thomas that he considered the assault to be a hate crime, which means that, under Kentucky law, the possibility for parole is removed during the sentencing phase. The category includes crimes based on sexual orientation, although Ashcraft is not gay.

Gay rights advocates say the incident underscores the need for laws protecting gays from bias-motivated attacks.

"It's one of the last forms of discrimination that people accept, and overlook," said Dean Forster, co-chair of the Northern Kentucky chapter of the Fairness Alliance.

"It's politically incorrect to use the 'N' word in most circles, but many people still use the 'F' word," Forster said.

Forster said laws like Cincinnati's Article XII and constitutional amendments banning gay marriage might foster acts of violence against homosexuals.

He was referring to Cincinnati's charter amendment that prohibits the city from granting special-class status based on sexual orientation.

Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values and chair of the Ohio Campaign to Protect Marriage, says that's a stretch.

Although he thinks assaults like this are deplorable, Burress said the media report when victims are gay but ignore criminals who are gay.

Burress said Ard, if convicted, "should go to jail for a long time," but he said Ard's motivation for the attack should not be taken into account.

"If you live in America, the land of the free, I guarantee you will be insulted sometime," Burress said.

Ashcraft met supporters Wednesday at Woolly's On Monmouth for a benefit that raised about $200 to help pay his medical bills, but he became ill and was taken to a hospital.

Bar owner Rick Petri said he plans to hold more benefits for Ashcraft, and he said Newport police have stepped up their patrols after the second beating outside the bar since January.

Carl Fox, owner of Crazy Fox Saloon at Washington and Ninth Streets, said he received a letter last December threatening his life shortly after he spoke in favor of gay rights on television.

Those incidents point to a need to make Newport a place where all its residents feel safe, said the Rev. Don Smith, pastor of Community of Faith Presbyterian Church and chairman of Covington's Human Rights Commission, which helped pass an ordinance last year extending anti-discrimination protection to gays and others.

"I hope Newport and all of the region takes a deep breath and says, 'Whoa, I didn't realize it was that bad,' " Smith said.