Homophobes fracture teen’s face in horrific street attack – all because he was wearing an earring
A 16-year-old was battered for wearing an earring in Russia. (Stock photograph via Elements Envato)
In Russia, a 16-year-old boy was brutally beaten so severely by anti-LGBT+ thugs that his retina may detach – all because he was wearing an earring.
The teen, who has not been named, was left bruised and bleeding Sunday evening (13 June) on Dunayskiy Prospekt, in the Moskovsky District of St Petersburg.
As he, his sister and two friends were walking home, he was targeted by two men. He was left with several facial fractures and swelling around his eyes that is so severe his retina may detach, his sister said.
According to Megapolis, a Russian-language news outlet, the men began verbally harassing the teen for wearing an earring, assuming he was gay. When he ignored the barbs, things became physical.
“One of them pushed my brother, sat on him from above and started beating him on his face and head,” the victim’s sister, Margarita, told the outlet.
She claimed that one of the men restrained the victim’s friends, preventing them from helping him.
16-летнего парня доставили в больницу со множеством травм после нападения незнакомца на улице в Петербурге
Мужчины, заметив серёжку в ухе подростка, принялись строить предположения о его сексуальной ориентации…https://t.co/cT9AZ1y3ig pic.twitter.com/sV6wuNaimW
— !Alliance | Альянс! (@hetero_for_lgbt) June 15, 2021
The victim suffered a litany of injuries from the attack, Margarita said, including fractures to his lower and right under-eye, a shattered right sinus, haematomas across his forehead and swelling.
One of the two men was briefly detained by local law enforcement after being identified by the victim and loved ones.
But the Investigative Committee, an anti-corruption agency otherwise known as the Sledkom, has been sluggish in launching criminal proceedings, Margarita said.
She said that investigators told her father that the attacker “would be released” and a case launched only once the victim is discharged from the hospital.
The family know justice is a long shot. Once released, Margarita said, the attacker will likely “disappear” and police “will not look for him”.
In Russia, LGBT+ people face violence and persecution within society and by officials. Lawmakers, emboldened by president Vladimir Putin, have sought to stamp out LGBT+ rights completely.
Only recently did Putin sign a constitutional ban on marriage equality before hatching a plan to ban trans, bisexual and polyamorous “propaganda” which would come on top of its years-old “gay propaganda” ban.
