Man stabs 18-year-old son in Chile for being gay
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An 18-year-old man in Chile has reportedly been stabbed by his father because he is gay.
The incident allegedly occurred in Quilpué and was reported by the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation (Movilh).
The 18-year-old, who has not been named, was stabbed by his father after his parents had an argument about his sexual orientation, according to the man’s mother.
The man said he was embarrassed to have ‘a f**got son’
During the couple’s argument, the man reportedly said that he was embarrassed to have a “f**got son.” She then asked him to leave their home. However, the father took her keys and wouldn’t give them back.
When their son, who is a student, came home from classes, he asked his father to hand over the keys and to leave.
Movilh president Gonzalo Velásquez said the father’s reaction was “dramatic.”
“The father invited his son to fight outside the house, with knife in hand and stabbing him minutes later in the parking lot,” he said.
Velásquez said the incident is “one of the most serious cases of homophobic intrafamily violence that we have known.” The organisation has provided legal guidance to the mother and her 18-year-old son.
A second homophobic attack took place in Chile in recent weeks
Movilh also recorded a second homophobic incident in Chile in recent weeks, in which a 54-year-old man was assaulted by his sister and his nephew.
During the attack, the man was allegedly insulted for his sexual orientation and was also beaten up and hit in the head with a bottle.
While LGBT+ rights have progressed significantly in Chile in the last two decades, LGBT+ people can still face violence.
In 2012, the Chilean Congress approved an anti-discrimination law which prohibits discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender or appearance. The law was passed after gay man Daniel Zamudio was killed in a violent hate crime in Chile.
Two gay men were violently assaulted in Chile earlier this year
However, LGBT+ people continue to face violence in Chile. Earlier this year, Movilh reported that José David Muñoz Vargas, 51, was assaulted in the town of Porvenir and forced to sit in a tub of hot water because of his sexuality, resulting in severe burns.
Another man, aged 24, who remains anonymous, was assaulted in the port city of Valparaíso, also on January 1.
Movilh reports that the man was being given a lift by two people, who attacked him when they heard him speaking to his partner on the phone.
“Everything was going well until the young man started talking on the phone with his partner,”said Movilh representative Diego Ríos.
“The assailants began to insult him because of his sexual orientation, as well as beating and torturing him.”
