Gay man hospitalised after being beaten with bike chain and called ‘faggot’ in homophobic attack
A gay man was left unconscious after an attack in which he was repeatedly hit with a bike chain and called homophobic slurs.
25-year-old Bradley Skinner was at a restaurant in Queensland, Australia, with his sister and a friend on April 15 when they were approached by a stranger.
The stranger began to yell homophobic slurs at Skinner.
Skinner told Queensland’s Daily Mercury: “This guy walked past, and we were all laughing and having a good time about to go home… he called me a faggot.”
Skinner’s sister Amanda confronted the stranger who then began to attack the pair, punching her in the face.
(Photo: Amanda Skinner / Facebook)
Skinner said: “I just ignore it because I’m used to that stuff, but my sister doesn’t take too kindly to it so she got up and said, ‘What the hell?’
“He ended up hitting her in the face. It all went on from there and he got out this chain and started whacking me with it.”
During the attack, Skinner was hit multiple times across his body and was left with several wounds to his head, before falling unconscious.
“When he hit me on the head, that’s when I blacked out,” he said.
(Photo: Brendan Skinner / Facebook)
Skinner’s sister attempted to intervene, saying that she feared for her brother’s life after he fell unconscious.
Amanda Skinner said: “I tried to rip him away from my brother but it didn’t work.
“I thought he was dead, he was just laying there, there was blood coming out of his head.”
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Brendan was taken to Mackay Base Hospital where he was discharged the next day.
(Photo: Brendan Skinner / Facebook)
However, Skinner returned to the hospital shortly after his discharge as he was struggling to stand and communicate.
There were worries that Skinner could have been left with permanent brain injury after the attack, but according to doctors, he is expected to make a full recovery.
Queensland police have confirmed that they are investigating the incident.
This isn’t the first major homophobic attack in Australia to make international headlines this year.
In January, a gay man was left unable to open one of his eyes after a vicious homophobic attack.
Brendan, 36, was called a “f**king faggot” before being punched in the left eye.
(Twitter/victoriapolice)
Three men followed him for a short distance after he left an Australia Day celebration in the early hours of January 27 before punching him repeatedly, according to police.
At a press conference, the medical insurance worker said he remembered “one giant punch to my left eye,” but that his injuries ended up being far more extensive.
During Australia’s postal survey on same-sex marriage in 2017, incidents of homophobic attacks skyrocketed.
According to the LGBTI Legal Service, who kept track of the attacks during the vote, the group collected 220 examples of hate speech.
