The two men shared the photos on social media | Photo: Mauro Padovani, Facebook
Two men shared photos of their bloody homophobic assault in Belgium.It’s reported to be at the hands of their neighbours.
49-year-old Italian cartoonist Mauro Padovani opened up about the ordeal, claiming homophobia motivated the assault on him and his 59-year-old husband Tom Freeman.
The attack occurred on Monday (13 August 2018). It resulted in back injuries for Tom and multiple facial wounds.
Photos after the bloody assault | Photo: Mauro Padovani, Facebook
Speaking to Corriere.It, Padovani said: ‘They spat in our face. They insulted us. And then they started beating us with a steering lock.
‘On the head, on the back, on the legs. Everywhere. And all this just because we are gay. I love Belgium. We got married here. But now I do not feel safer anymore.’
‘Like beating a child’
In a heartbreaking twist, Tom suffers from Alzheimer’s. Doctors diagnosed him 11 years ago. Mauro continued: ‘To beat a person like him is like beating a child.’
The cartoonist claims that they’ve had multiple confrontations with their neighbors, with them allegedly saying ‘We hate gays’ after meeting them for the first time. They claim that the neighbors threw bricks at them in a separate incident.
The hospital treated both for their injuries | Photo: Mauro Padovani, Facebook
Mauro also shared a link to right wing website Il Primato Nzaionale on his Facebook. On it, he remarks that ‘the hate in the comments don’t surprise me’ and mentions many are claiming the homophobic assault was staged using fake blood. This is unsubstantiated.
Tom and Mauro met online 12 years ago. They fell in love ‘right away’, before getting married seven years later. Mauro then moved from Italy to Flanders. Unfortunately, Tom’s diagnosis only came a year later.
More from Gay Star News:
Gang assault men at gunpoint in homophobic attack because they didn’t like their jeans
Man has back broken in suspected hate crime attack after Pride in London
