Hundreds protest in Haarlem for LGBTQIA+ safety after gay bashing incident
Around 300 people protested in Haarlem on Monday evening to stop violence against people from the LGBTQIA+ community. The demonstration was prompted by a recent gay bashing incident in the city, but that was not an isolated incident, organizer Bas Kortekaas said to NH Nieuws.
During the early hours of August 1, a 30-year-old man, Trevor, was beaten unconscious after revealing his homosexuality. He was speaking with an unknown man on Smedestraat in Haarlem city center during a night out. After the man made a comment about women, Trevor casually mentioned that he was attracted to men. The other man immediately attacked him.
The man punched and kicked Trevor and left him unconscious on the street. He was severely injured and needed surgery, getting plates placed in his jaw and under his eye. He has since been discharged from the hospital.
This is at least the third time in 18 months that someone was severely beaten in Haarlem because of their sexual orientation, said Kortekaas of the Dusty Foundation, an organization that supports victims of anti-LGBTQIA+ violence. “It has to stop now,” he said at the protest at the Nieuwe Groenmarkt on Monday.
Mayor Jos Wienen also participated in the protest. “What makes it even more painful is that Trevor came here from Uganda seeking safety. And then, damn it, you arrive in our beautiful Haarlem… and you get beaten up. This is unacceptable.”
No arrests have been made for Trevor’s assault as of yet. The police are looking for two suspects.
