Homophobic woman pepper sprays gay man for the ‘crime’ of holding hands with his boyfriend
Edgar Aragall was pepper sprayed on the Barcelona subway for holding hands with another man (BTV)
A gay man was left needing hospital treatment when a woman became so enraged at the sight of him holding hands with another man that she pepper sprayed him at point blank range.
The attack occurred at around 8pm on January 26 as the young man, Edgar Aragall, was travelling home on the Barcelona subway after an evening dancing with friends.
While in the subway car he linked arms with one of his male friends, which caught the woman’s attention. She asked Aragall if he was gay, and this quickly escalated into hurling a barrage of homophobic slurs at them.
When a female passerby stepped in to defend the men, the woman and her partner grew violent and lashed out at her instead. Aragall searched for a security guard to break up the fight but was unable to find one.
The homophobe then turned her rage on him, reaching into her pocket and spraying him with pepper spray in the face at point-blank range. The corrosive substance burned his face, eyes and abdomen, causing such severe irritation that he needed to be treated in hospital afterwards.
? Denuncien una agressió homòfoba amb gas pebre al metro del Clot
? “Em crema la cara, els ulls i tot. El gas me l’ha tirat molt a prop i m’he cremat fins a l’abdomen” https://t.co/j1vLJYtIMT pic.twitter.com/rWGa03tuMk
— btv notícies (@btvnoticies) January 26, 2020
“Unfortunately, this is our daily life,” he told BTV sadly, adding that while comments like “fag” are common he has never experienced an attack like this one before.
“It’s the first time and yes, you stay in shock. I have not cried yet for the situation because I am still shocked by what has happened.”
The homophobe and her partner disappeared after the attack and still haven’t been found. The regional Mossos d’Esquadra police forces are now investigating the incident and are searching for witnesses.
