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."
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.
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.
Hopefully Brobson's story will serve its purpose and raise awareness.
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