This month is Pride month, a month when queer people around with world are encouraged to celebrate their gender identity and sexuality. It's a time when, surrounded by other members of the LBGT+ community and those who champion their rights, people can embrace themselves and protest the discrimination and prejudice which they face every day.
Sadly, however, there are plenty of bigots and homophobes out there who are only too happy to ruin the occasion for everyone, and who see Pride events as little more than an incitement to violence and abuse.
If you need proof of this unfortunate truism, then look no further than the following video, which shows a gay man in Barcelona, Spain, being subjected to a torrent of hate speech in a McDonald's restaurant during a pride parade, the Daily Mail reports.
Check out the alarming video of the confrontation below:In the footage, an irate thug approaches one of the pride-goers, who is wearing a pair of tight shorts and a yellow tank top.
The aggressor claims that there are children in the restaurant who are being exposed to the man's behavior, stating: "I am telling you to be discreet, you are in a public place ... I don't care if you are a queer. When you go out, I am going to hit you so hard your queerness will disappear."
Per the Metro, a security guard attempted to intervene in the midst of the altercation, pushing between them. Meanwhile, the man who had been challenged replied: "'I don't need to tolerate a guy telling me how to dress."
According to Pink News, the two men were eventually separated, and the man who instigated the fight walked away. According to local media, the police arrived at the scene soon afterward but the victim refused to press charges. His friend, who was filming the confrontation, uploaded the footage to Twitter, where it was watched more than 4.2 million times (as of this writing).
if you or anyone you know has been affected by the issues raised in this article, then please don't hesitate to visit Gallop for help and further advice.
