A vile attack against a gay couple after they kissed one another on a train platform in Rome has led to calls for a hate-crime law in Italy.
The incident happened in late February but the video only went viral after being aired on Italian TV yesterday. It was first shared on Facebook by the LGBTQ rights group, Gaynet Roma, who said it took place February 26 at the Valle Aurelia train station.
In the footage, shot on the cellphone of a bystander, a man can see bounding over train tracks to reach the platform where the men – local LGBTQ activist Jean Pierre Moreno and his partner – have exchanged a kiss. The attacker then swings his fists and kicks at them. He continues to attack Moreno.
Related: A gay couple was beaten bloody outside a Missouri casino. Police won’t say it’s a hate crime.
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Moreno told local outlet GayNews was happened: “We were waiting for the last train to go home. While I was kissing my partner, we suddenly heard a man scream from the platform opposite: ‘What are you doing? Aren’t you ashamed?’
“After replying: ‘But what do you care?’ and having resumed kissing with my partner, the guy crossed the tracks and joined us, first striking my partner in the eye. Frightened, he tried to take me away and then fled. But I stayed there, not being afraid to face him and continuing to ask him what problems he was having.”
Politicians from across the political spectrum have condemned the attack.
Rome’s Mayor, Virginia Raggi, of the populist 5-Star party, tweeted: “All forms of discrimination and violence must be strongly condemned. Episodes like this represent an intolerable offense to our entire community.
Democrat politician Nicola Zingaretti called such an attack seemed “unbelievable” and said now is the time to introduce a law against homophobic hate crimes.
Also denouncing the attack was far-right politician Giorgia Meloni, leader of the Brothers of Italy party, who posted the video to Facebook and said she was “shocked at this absurd and brutal violence in Rome … I hope the person responsible for this cowardly violence pays: these images are unworthy of a civil country. My full solidarity to the boy who was attacked.”
Her Facebook posting prompted thousands of comments, with many pointing out her party had previously opposed LGBTQ rights.
Related: His attackers yelled “f*ggot” as they beat him. Cops say it’s not a hate crime.
A homophobic hate crime bill was introduced in the Italian Parliament’s lower chamber last November, although it is opposed by the right-wing party, League, led by Matteo Salvini. The legislation passed in the lower house but is currently awaiting debate in the Senate.
At the time of writing, the attacker in the video has not been caught by police. If he is arrested, he cannot currently be charged with a homophobic hate crime because of the lack of such legislation.
cuteguy
I’ve been to Rome and it’s such a nasty, dirty city. I cannot believe it’s 2021 and there still aren’t protections in the law books for lgbt ppl. Then again Italy is so backwards look how badly they handled the pandemic
Rock-N-RollHS
Such a “nasty dirty city.” Lol. Why do I imagine you as a gay caricature with a lisp. btw, what country prey tell did handle the pandemic well? Certainly not the USA. Maybe China, if you believe them. Italy was much more responsible with the lockdowns. They just had a huge number of old people. You can go back to clutching your pearls and petting your ribbon-and-bow lap dog.
Cam
@Rock-N-RollHS
The right wing troll brings back and older screename and right off the bat does the same old thing. Attacks somebody with the idea that being gay or fem is bad.
Sweetie, you’re still so bad at trolling, even after all this time.
Heywood Jablowme
@cuteguy: Rome had a trash crisis in the summer of 2019, for various reasons (it wasn’t a sanitation strike). Maybe you were there at that time? When I’ve been there it didn’t seem particularly dirty.
jaleoman
Don’t be ignorant and racist speaking badly about Italy. Italy is a beautiful country with an amazing history and culture. U.S can be a very nasty place that does not has 10% of the history and culture than Italy have. Also the U.S has a lot of homophobia and is extremely dangerous country that one don’t know when somebody will start shooting.
jayceecook
So a dude wearing skinny jeans, who has no business doing so, with a purse got angry because two younger, smaller guys were kissing and decided to attack them? If only there was an Alanis Morissette song to describe how I’m feeling.
JessPH
The gay guy did not even fight back. He just stood there letting himself be punched and kicked. What the hell is he raising his fist for? Shame.
Doug
He attempts to punch the other guy twice. He also blocks the attacker’s attempts to hit him several times. Why should he be expected to fight back anyway?
Chrisk
I have a dream that one day I’ll see a video where gay guys actually fight back. These thugs can smell weakness. That’s why they attack them.
Personally I could never live with myself if I ever came into a situation like that and just let myself be victimized. My pride would never allow it.
naobe5
I felt the same watching the video…but in fact he did the smart thing , protect his face , keep a distance and not respond…because if he had fought back ,chances are, that the aggressor would have ended up on the tracks and then be badly injured ( I would have thrown his ass on the tracks for sure) and then the victim would have been blamed with manslaughter or bullshit like using unnecessary force…The blame the victim game is real….
triguykeith
They should not blur out his face! These kinds of crimes need to be broadcast everywhere so this POS looses his job! A crime is a crime. prosecute to the fullest extent of the law!!
Cam
Italy is way behind the rest of Western Europe when it comes to LGBTQ rights. But the fact that the far right party is now pretending not to be Homophobic sounds like the tide may be turning because of this video.
Portugal and Spain legalized Same Sex Marriage in spite of intense lobbying against it by the Vatican, but not Italy, so it will be interesting to see what kind of movement happens now.
James26
So the targets of the attack are able-bodied adult men, and the attacker is actually outnumbered 2 to 1. And what happens? One of the gay guys runs away like a little girl. Leaving his partner in danger. What a guy!
The other one does better, standing his ground. But he is obviously clueless as to how to defend himself. He doesn’t throw a single proper punch and fails to keep his hands up. At the end, the attacker just turns his back, with no fear that the gay guy will do anything.
All in all, a near-total failure of manhood. I’ve seen enough stories like this to call it typical. This is what happens when males spend their adult life in a subculture that celebrates effeminacy and denigrates masculinity. What are the odds that either of those 2 guys spent any time learning self-defense as opposed to learning how to put on “drag”?
Vince
Yeah, the attacker just casually turning his back on the guy was the final pussification of him. Secure in the knowledge that he wouldn’t dare retaliate.
Cam
The right wing troll account once again comes on to attack the LGBTQ victims.
Leo
Your stereotypical response is the biggest clue as to who you really are. Bigot.
Kevan1
@james26and @ Vince, just nasty to attack victims. Sorry everyone who is gay is not Rambow like you two seem to think you are.
jaleoman
I actually agree, it makes me sick to my stomach that 2 gay men from my community can’t defend themselves and beat the hell of that homophobic. Why one of the guys ran away and let his partner alone ? Those people attack us because they feel that we won’t fight back, that we are not man enough. It’s true the fact that most gays embrace so much femininity and reject masculinity is the main reason why most gay men in our community can’t fight or can’t defend themselves like men in situations like this.
Leash
This is just in: Girls can fight too and being male isn’t all about being aggressive and punching people. Also James/jaleoman have never been punched by a drag queen and it shows, just go back to your masc 4 masc grindr profiles.
You should be mad at the homophobe who started all this shit, not the dudes he went after. Taking self defense classes is great, but one should not have to.
1st of all you never know how you would react in that situation unless you’re actually in it.
2nd of all of course he did barely fight back, I assume he did not want to fight and he did not want the situation to escalate.
This could have been easily ended on the train tracks with someone dead. And for WHAT? Would that prove to you how manly he is? That is WORTH NOTHING. Your idea of masculinity is STUPID.
James26
@Leash If it is the case that “girls can fight too” then that only makes these 2 adult men more pathetic, not less. I’m not sure your purported defense of them is doing any good.
You can try to put whatever spin you want on it but at the end of the day, that’s cowardice, weakness and effeminacy on full display in that video. The one guy didn’t run away, leaving his boyfriend in peril, as a well-considered de-escalation measure. He did it because he is a gutless coward who ran off because he was afraid and valued his own safety above that of his boyfriend.. The other guy was not inept and passive in defending himself as a brilliant tactical move to avoid some remote hypothetical situation involving the tracks. He was inept and passive because he is not much of a man and was totally unprepared for this situation, physically and psychologically.
Cheers!
Mr-DJ
The guy in red (victim) did play it smart in once aspect. He actively made sure that he never allowed himself to be put in a position between the idiot and the train tracks.
tjack47
I wonder if he feels like his dick grew from this attack. Such bravado. It makes me sick. Mind your business. Keep your hands to yourself. Live and let live. I think we learned this in kindergarten. He definitely is guilty of assault, but I think with the extenuating circumstances of a homophobic hate crime. It’s obvious he attacked them, because they were gay and dared PDA.
Fahd
I think the same thing could have happened in any number of cities around the world, including in the United States. I’m glad the video is being used to try to promote change in Italy, where that deeply rooted Catholicism doesn’t help.
masterwill7
Half of Europe is far ahead in the world when looking at legislation and rights for LGBTQ people, the other half still has a long way to go… Italy still has a long way to go for sure…
blackhook
lol @ this *tough guy* carrying his man purse!!!
Manrico Jimenez
I hope the attacker and the family he learned this homophobia from, all died in hospitals in ventilators over the subsequent months.
Doug
Why do people post videos like this and then blur their faces out?
Shirtless Climber
shame on the other one who did not help his friend and ran away instead.
O.T
even we are gay we are queer , we have to fight back…….be strong please