PALERMO – They first insulted and mocked them for holding hands. Then they surrounded them and beat them. A savage assault suffered by a couple of gay boys from Turin on vacation in Palermo. Theater of the Via Maqueda affair, in the center of Palermo. But despite the street, last night, was full of young people who returned to go out thanks to the easing of anti-covid measures, no one defended the two victims who were only helped by a couple of friends with them on vacation.
One of the two boys attacked was also hit by shrapnel from a broken bottle and suffered trauma to the face, a broken nose and injuries. The young man from Turin was discharged from the hospital this morning with a prognosis of 25 days. He told the policemen investigating the incident that he was insulted and mocked for holding hands with his partner. The two were walking in search of a bed and breakfast. Then came the beatings.
“They screamed at me I scar you. I scar you ». Stefano has on his face the signs of the aggression carried out by four Palermo boys between 17 and 18 years old. “I was kicked and punched for very long minutes. I was very scared. Many were around and no one intervened to stop the herd, ”he said. They threw some bottles at him. None hit him.
«Now we are at the sea. We will go to Favignana – he adds – I just want to relax after a horrible experience. Already during the afternoon we have been insulted several times. I didn’t think there were so many prejudices towards gays in Palermo. I had the idea of a city more open to integration. Instead. We were looking for a B&B and found kicks and punches. We were offended without a specific reason ».
“The four kids they were with other young people and there were also some girls. They broke away from the group and started bullying and insulting us – he said again – Then they went to blows after throwing bottles at us ».
Now the results are awaited investigations after the police report. The agents of the mobile squad have already been at work since last night to trace the attackers. Investigators are taking images of street surveillance systems to track down the perpetrators. The area, one of the streets of the Palermo nightlife, is full of clubs and there are several cameras that could have framed and filmed the 4 teenagers.
Dozens of testimonials of solidarity arrived at the two tourists. Among the first the mayor of Palermo Leoluca Orlando: “the aggression represents a cowardly act that has nothing to do with the cultural change of a city that promotes, day after day, the rights of the person. This criminal episode also reaffirms the the importance and urgency of the approval of the Zan bill. Politics can no longer waste time, “he said.
And last week also in Catania there had been a transphobic attack which had led Arcigay to forcefully ask for the approval of the Zan bill against homobilesbotransphobia, misogyny and skill. Two attacks that reveal an intolerant side of Sicilians and Sicily, a few years ago pointed out by the tourist guide Frommer’s (8 million copies and among the best-selling in the United States) as a homophobic destination where there is a serious danger of being beaten or even worse . For the guide, Sicily was “one of the major strongholds of homophobia in Europe”.
And on necessity several politicians intervened to urgently approve the Zan bill against homotransphobia: from 5Stelle, to the Democratic Party, to Forza Italia. “We must break the chain of hatred that feeds on social networks and feeds the malaplant of discrimination – wrote Annamaria Bernini, president of the senators of Fi – Homotransphobia must be fought by all means: a law will not be enough to eradicate it from society, because above all a strong and united effort to educate to tolerance will be needed. But a law is absolutely necessary, because Parliament cannot remain inert in the face of this unacceptable drift of incivility ”.
«Of the attack on Palermo it is not only the ferocity that affects me; and I am not only hurt by the humiliation and the great pain of those who have suffered it. What shocks me deeply is the very young age of the attackers. I would like to be aware of all those who, for reasons of political convenience, exploit the Zan bill, attacking in particular its second part. That part that wants to intervene on education and training, to promote a culture of respect, “warned the senator of the Democratic Party Monica Cirinnà.