An English man has landed in the hospital after standing up to two men who were hurling homophobic slurs at his friends.
Lee Brobson, a 30-year-old man from Chelmsford, Essex, UK, was walking to a bar with his gay friends, Dan and Clark, when a couple of homophobic passersby decided to engage them with various slurs and aggressive language.
"We spotted these two guys staring at us, following us down the road with their eyes," Brobson told PinkNews UK. "Clark decided to engage with them and said hello, to ask what they're staring at."
"I tired to calm them down and dismiss it," Brobson said, "but they grabbed my friend and pulled him back."
Yet another brutal homophobic attack on our community - when will @sajidjavid take some action to ensure our communโฆ https://t.co/5aWmI0gELMโ Linda Riley (@Linda Riley)1580318987.0
@LindaRiley8 @sajidjavid Itโs horrible. Hope they catch the violent homophobes. โ๐ผโ jo vannicola (@jo vannicola)1580319364.0
@LindaRiley8 @sajidjavid Itโs a sad indictment on society at the moment. My husband and I were attacked last year.โฆ https://t.co/g5eC3s7hJTโ Ian ๐ณ๏ธโ๐โ๏ธ (@Ian ๐ณ๏ธโ๐โ๏ธ)1580324388.0
@LindaRiley8 @sajidjavid Itโs shocking that this took place and that they had to go through this but I wouldnโt havโฆ https://t.co/NmguJDP3LUโ James Buchanan ๐ณ๏ธโ๐ (@James Buchanan ๐ณ๏ธโ๐)1580329100.0
@PinkNews I'm sorry this happened to you all. How can people still behave this wayโ Vikki M (@Vikki M)1580301643.0
Brobson continued, saying the violence was totally unprompted.
"It's 2020, and we're just off doing out own thing. They weren't having any of it and that's when they punched me down. They were going in for blood...it was hurtful and disgusting."
Brobson was then used as the homophobes' personal punching bag, resulting in nine hours in the hospital.
Iโm so sick of seeing LGBTQ+ ppl subjected to this abhorrent violence. Iโm sick of our friends being beaten for staโฆ https://t.co/M7PXk1TGhpโ Dr Jennie Bujold๐น๐ณ๏ธโ๐ (@Dr Jennie Bujold๐น๐ณ๏ธโ๐)1580169508.0
@JennieBujold Someoneโs sexuality is none of anyone elseโs business and if they donโt like it they should keep it to themselves ffs! ๐ณ๏ธโ๐โ Abigail Barletta ๐ณ๏ธโ๐๐ฆ๐บ (@Abigail Barletta ๐ณ๏ธโ๐๐ฆ๐บ)1580215992.0
@JennieBujold bRiTaIn iS tHe mOsT tOlErAnT pLaCe iN tHe wOrLd tHoUgH ๐ฅโ Dan Jones (@Dan Jones)1580169683.0
@JennieBujold What is wrong with people ?โ YisWorldWeird #proEU ๐ช๐บ (@YisWorldWeird #proEU ๐ช๐บ)1580170219.0
@JennieBujold Well done young man for stepping in. I am so sad your friends were abused and you were assaulted by these mindless cretins. ๐โ Chris (@Chris)1580233974.0
Brobson said his posting of his injuries on Facebook was to raise awareness that homophobia is hardly a thing of the past.
"I'm determined that something good will come from this even if they never get caught," he said.
"I hope it brings awareness to attacks of this nature and people can be educated in that what they did was wrong. Homophobia or hate crimes do not have a place in modern day society."
Homophobic attacks in the UK have more than doubled in the past five years, coinciding with the election of a Tory majority and the pro-Brexit vote.
Four teenagers have been charged in a homophobic attack on a London bus that sparked widespread outrage in the UK https://t.co/WPbHtH80Roโ CNN (@CNN)1564083007.0
Another #homophobic attack on a #lesbian in the UK. https://t.co/jNLTa4epe4โ Kristina Harrison (@Kristina Harrison)1579258362.0
Homophobic attack victim told by UK police 'not to go out alone' next time https://t.co/wZbzeHr1tfโ Peter Fagerlind (@Peter Fagerlind)1561069066.0
Last night there was homophobic attack in my city. Homophobia is surging in the UK. Most of these attacks are by yoโฆ https://t.co/PCeypCJzXXโ Simon D. A. Clark (@Simon D. A. Clark)1561286688.0
RuPaul's Drag Race stars @farrahrized and @SheaCoulee victims of homophobic attack in UK kebab shopโฆ https://t.co/oYGSQYMmeQโ GSN (@GSN)1522814434.0
Hopefully Brobson's story will serve its purpose and raise awareness.