Homophobic attack in Lille: gay community shocked

An original translation by SIMONXML and suggested by LinaN

From Metro News:

“The attackers in the metro quoted the Koran while beating up the two young men”

Created : 06-03-2014 17:17

SOCIETY – After the attack on the Vice Versa gay bar in April 2013, this time it was a couple of students who were attacked on Monday evening in the metro, because they were holding hands. The Lille gay associations are on the frontline to break the prejudices.

Ludovic Saulnier, regional representative of SOS Homophobia, in front of the Saint-Maurice Pellevoisin metro station in Lille, where the violent homophobic attack took place. Photo : M.P/Metronews

The homosexual community is still in shock. The violent verbal and physical attack on two students on Monday night in the metro by five individuals has had a profound effect. Their only crime: holding hands. While two of the aggressors have been placed in custody, the associations have not forgotten the attack that occurred in the ‘Vice et Versa’ gay bar in April 2013, on the sidelines of a demonstration against same-sex marriages.

Officially, public authorities do not identify homophobic acts. But, according to SOS Homophobia, in 2011 and 2012 more than 30 complaints were made to the association in the north of France. The Department ranks third in the number of national reports of homophobic acts. “People are starting to talk and prosecutors are increasingly making the decision to classify these offenses as an aggravating circumstance”, reports Ludovic Saulnier, Regional Delegate.

Fueled by religious extremism

According to Ludovic, however, Lille is still a more “tolerant” city than others of the same size. “Overall, there have not been cases recently as violent as these two, even if there are regular attacks on cruising areas,” he adds.

However, according to Franck Danvers, president of Lille Lesbian & Gay Pride, the movement against same-gender marriages has fanned religious extremism. “The attackers in the metro quoted the Koran while beating up the two young men”, he states. Then, to make things happen, activists from the Flamands Roses collective will be in the Lille metro this Friday distributing leaflets and opening up a dialogue with the public. “Getting the word out is important”, observes Nin, a member of the Lille association.” We must continue to mobilize so that we are no longer afraid to be seen in public places.”

 

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

6 Replies to “Homophobic attack in Lille: gay community shocked”

  1. And in the link that I gave, the journalist pined the blame on the pro catholic LMPT movement.
    Talk about misinformation, this is a classic case.

    Lena N

  2. And the same was made about the article comparing forced marriages with Catholics. News to me.

  3. None of this is really shocking. Bruce Bawer’s “While Europe Slept” (2006) documented this kind of thing happening years ago.

    What is shocking is that the gay media will not report these stories, just like they did not report the 20 years in which muslims used violence to drive gay people out of east London.

    If one visits the main gay news websites in Britain (pinknews.co.uk, gaystarnews.com), there is no trace of this story about Lille. Just as there was no trace of the story from last week about Iran hanging some more men for being gay.

    I’ve set about creating a list of these reports. As the crisis deepens in the coming years/decades, we need to be able to tell groups who are being targeted: “here is the proof that your community ‘leaders’ had a policy of concealing these attacks on people like you”.

    For years, I used to contact the gay media with such stories, but I’ve given up. Less than 1 in 10 of the stories I sent them were ever published, even though I made sure that the link I sent was one that didn’t come from a counter-jihad website. Only a determination to protect islam rather than gay people can explain such a massive refusal to publish this information.

    When Gallup did their 2009 survey showing that 99.5% of British muslims were homophobic, the response of the gay media was to claim that Gallup was islamophobic for doing the survey in the first place. The gay media ignored that the team at Gallup who did the survey was a team of 3 muslims.

  4. Joe: please post links for these 2 items:

    “When Gallup did their 2009 survey showing that 99.5% of British muslims were homophobic, the response of the gay media was to claim that Gallup was islamophobic for doing the survey in the first place. The gay media ignored that the team at Gallup who did the survey was a team of 3 muslims.”

    This is very interesting indeed.