By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use. Two gay men vacationing on the French island of Corsica were brutally attacked by group of up to 20 men while a large crowd gathered and watched but did nothing to stop the brutal assault. The two men, identified only as Mickael and Benoit, told the French-language gay publication Tetu via email they had gone out for a night on the town with Benoit's brother, sister, and sister-in-law when they were confronted on the dance floor by a group of homophobic teens and young men who took exception to the coupled men dancing together.
I stay very calm and tell him that I am gay myself. At that moment he takes out his cross and tells me that it 'is against nature. The two men left the club to grab some fresh air, only to be followed by the hostile young men.
One of the youths confronted the couple and called them queers. Luckily I didn't pass out. By then a large crowd had gathered to watch the horrific assault but did nothing to stop the beatings. According to the two men, the crowd treated the brutal and violent assault as a form of entertainment. The assault only stopped after police, alerted by Benoit's family, arrived and rescued the men.
To add insult to injury, the two men added they were heckled and jeered with more calls of "queers" as they were taken by ambulance to a local hospital. The men were treated for broken noses, bruises, and bleeding, and received up to eight days of what is known as temporary work interruption ITT. The local prosecutor of Bastia released a statement, quoted by France TV Info , announcing they had opened an investigation into the attack.
A third person was injured. This was the second homophobic assault in the past year on the island of Corsica located in the western Mediterranean. The birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte saw a similar crime last July when two gay men were brutally beaten after sharing a small kiss at a local bar in the capital city of Ajaccio, only to have police suggest the two men were responsible for the attack.
