Lesbian couple pinned to the floor and beaten in brutal attack by their neighbours
A lesbian couple has been viciously attacked in front of their home by two neighbours.
Isabel Gaviria and Maria Perilla, who live in Bogotá, Colombia, were confronted by Yackeline Hurtado and her daughter Angie Hurtado.
Colombia has taken many steps towards LGBT equality in recent times. Earlier this year, three gay men married each other to become the first legally polyamorous family in the country.
And since 2015, Colombia has legalised marriage and adoption for same-sex couples.
Maria said that she and her wife, who have been together for nine years and married for one-and-a-half, had suffered homophobic abuse from Yackeline for years.
And in an incident recorded on the couple’s security camera, tensions boiled over after the Hurtados approached the married pair in their driveway.
Maria said she was going to record everything the mother and daughter said, at which point Yackeline took away Maria’s mobile phone.
And that’s when it got violent, as you can see in the video below.
Writing on Facebook, Maria described how Angie “threw herself at me. I hit the floor and she started hitting me.
“My wife was beaten up against the car that was in our parking lot while we were being called lesbians and many more sick and offensive adjectives.”
She said these slurs were “fuelled by their hatred and their prejudice to various sexual orientations.”
The video, which Maria posted online, shows the violent nature of the confrontation, as the couple desperately tries to fight off the mother and daughter.
Maria continued: “While we were physically and verbally assaulted, my wife managed to run out to seek help.”
She explained that her assailants “had me on the floor while I was being beaten, which put me in a total state of helplessness.
“I had two people attacking me at the same time.”
Maria complained that the police were unhelpful, adding that she and Isabel “were not only physically beaten but in a state of psychological trauma”.
She stayed in a medical facility for four days after the incident, with her wife staying there for one.
Maria said that she and Isabel “want to raise awareness and support for all those who are part of the LGBTI community.”
She called on everyone to speak out against homophobic attacks, saying that “they must raise their voices and not allow such situations to be forgotten and unpunished!”
