Gay rights activist beaten up in homophobic attack in France
Guillaume Melanie (Twitter)
A French gay rights activist has suffered injuries after he was violently beaten up in a horrifying homophobic hate crime.
Guillaume Melanie is the president of gay rights organisation, Urgence Homophobie, which aims to help LGBT+ victims of violence across the world.
Guillaume Melanie (Twitter)
Melanie said that he was attacked as he was leaving a restaurant with a group of other activists.
Tweeting a photo of the injuries he sustained, Melanie said: “Homophobic attack outside a restaurant. Nose broken. Shocked. Blood everywhere. I’m homosexual and this is 2018.”
According to the Telegraph, Melanie said that he and his friends were “somewhat obstructing” the way on the street when a man pushed them violently.
When Melanie asked the man to “go easy,” a man who was with the aggressor said: “You’re just a dirty faggot” and added, “You should all be burned.”
Melanie said that it was then that the man punched him hard in the face, breaking his nose and causing bruising to his face.
The violent hate crime is just the latest in a string of homophobic attacks taking place in Paris in recent weeks.
Just last week, a gay couple were beaten up by two strangers after sharing a kiss on the streets of Paris.
The attack was recorded on CCTV cameras, and two men were subsequently arrested in connection with the crime.
Guillaume Melanie (Twitter)
On September 18, another gay couple were beaten up after they hugged on the street by a group of unknown assailants, according to Le Parisien.
One of the young men, comedian Arnaud Gagnoud, was hit with a motorcycle helmet, and he later published a picture of his injuries and an account of the attack on his Instagram profile which has since been “liked” nearly 2,000 times.
According to French rights organisation SOS Homophobie, which works to raise awareness against LGBTphobia and support victims, there has been a 15 percent increase in the reports of physical assaults between 2017 and 2018.
While the organisation publishes figures for 2018 next May, SOS Homophobie President Joël Deumier told PinkNews last week that, since June, there have been a series of “disturbing” attacks throughout the country.
