‘Straight white men rule’ : Trump supporter attacks gay men in Sydney
Two men in Sydney claim they were verbally and physically abused by a drunk Trump supporter who told them : “Trump won. Straight, white men rule.”
The incident allegedly took place in Sydney’s inner west McDonald’s restaurant early Monday morning while the men were waiting in line for food, The Star Observer reports.
Sam and Andrew, whose names have been changed to protect their identities, claim that a Trump supporter began pointing and shouting abuse at them while they stood waiting to order.
The attack originally began as a racist tirade, but quickly turned homophobic when Sam told the stranger he was gay.
“He was saying things like how white men rule now that Trump has won, I was horrified,” Sam told the Star Observer. “I turned around to the guy and said ‘I’m gay — do you have a problem with that?’ and with that he went off.”
The alleged perpetrator had to be restrained by his friends to prevent him from assaulting Sam and Andrew inside the restaurant, but was later waiting for them outside when they left with their food.
“He hit me on the head, and because I’m a pretty big guy, I went down hard — immediately there was blood everywhere,” said Sam. “He kept mouthing off, but when he hit my head things went a bit blurry from that point.”
Andrew said he had been looking at his phone to book a ride home when he saw Sam hit the wall. “He was bleeding all over his face,” said Andrew. “Then as I turned around [the alleged attacker] hit me in the face. I didn’t fall over, but as I realised what had happened, he struck me again with a piece of glass I think, as it cut my skin and I was bleeding.”
Sam was taken to the hospital for treatment while Andrew went to the local police station along with the alleged perpetrator to give a statement.
He believes there should be better education for LGBT people to help them handle homophobic behaviour. Sam said : “I’ve been out in the community for over 20 years and even though I know how to operate in the gay community I honestly feel like there should be a course.he said.
“For instance, teaching us what to do if someone is spouting homophobic abuse, or if someone is trying to attack you.”
Police arrested two men aged 18 and 21, who have since been charge with assault and will appear in court on December 15 2016.
