Another Alleged Hate Crime in Spain Following Brutal Murder of Gay Man

Following the death of a 24-year old gay nursing assistant in the Northwestern Spain's town of A Coruña, there was an additional homophobic attack reported in the country.

In A Coruña, "some 10,000�people gathered in Maria Pita square, the symbol of the city, to reject the homophobic violence that took place days earlier. In Madrid, Barcelona, Andalusia, and Bilbao, citizens also took to the streets to demand justice for Samuel," reports the website Al Día.

On Saturday, July 3, Luiz was attacked by a group of men who ended his life. He was attacked after it was thought he was videotaping some men with his phone while making a call to a friend.

A second alleged homophobic attack also took place on July 3 in the Spanish city of Valencia, the Spanish news site LM (lamaria.com) reports. In the report, a gay man named Alejandro was spending some time in a park with some friends after partying in a bar when he was approached by a group of young people. One of them asked Alejandro if he had any money, to which he replied, "I don't have money, but I have a great ass."

The man,"was offended," Alejandro told LM. "Just for spouting that nonsense about my body and, seeing that I was homosexual, he took it as a�horrible offense,"�he said.

This led to the young man rebuking Alejandro with homophobic insults, calling him a "faggot."

Alejandro's friends came to his defense and the young man left only to return with more than a dozen people who attacked Alejandro and another gay friend and hurling homophobic insults. Alejandro, a fine arts student, said he was pushed to the ground. "They beat me," Alejandro said, "punched me in the mouth and head and smashed my lip."

Alejandro attempted to flee, but was caught by his assailants who stole his fanny pack and his phone. One of his friends was able to retrieve the fanny pack and his phone.

"The police arrived at the scene minutes later, but were unable to arrest those who had beaten the youths," LM reports.�"At no time, according to Alejandro, did the agents offer to file a complaint or take them to the hospital.�The two victims, still in a state of�shock, decided to go home to rest and file a complaint the next day."

Their attempt to report the crime to their satisfaction came to naught when they visited three different police stations. Learning of a long wait at the third station, they left and plan on presenting the complaint this week with the�Prosecution�of�Hate Crimes�of Valencia.