Turin Mayor Piero Fassino on
Monday called for national laws to protect against homophobia,
following an episode at the weekend in which a 21-year-old gay
man from Turin was punched in the face and subsequently reported
the act of violence to police.
Fassino expressed solidarity with the victim and his
family, and said the aggressors would be sought and brought to
justice.
The 21-year-old victim reported being punched in the face
by a man after riding a night bus home from a dance club, and
said he reported the incident to police in order to raise
awareness.
"I want to highlight that the problem of homophobia exists
and make it visible to everyone," said Stefano, the victim.
"Heterosexuals can't even remotely imagine how difficult it
is to be gay in Italy," he said.
The act of violence was brought to the attention of the
press by gay rights associations Arcigay and Gay Center, the
latter of which sponsors the Gay Help Line, an anti-homophobia
call center that the victim contacted after filing his police
report.
"We ask local institutions, starting with the schools, to
increase the work of education and communication to defeat this
social plague for good," said Marco Giusta, president of the
Turin chapter of Arcigay.
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