• Wave of homophobic violence sparks concern in Madrid’s LGBT community •
Hundreds of protesters gathered in Madrid Saturday to protest the latest in a series of homophobic assaults that have taken place in recent weeks and to call on authorities to implement a series of standard protocols for police and hospital authorities in dealing with instances of homophobic violence.
The most recent of the assaults took place on Jan. 18th in Madrid’s Chueca neighborhood, when a young gay man was beaten over the head with a metal object, marking the seventh such assault so far this year, according to the LGBT rights group Arcópoli, which organised the protest.
According to Arcópoli, during 2014 homophobic assaults in Madrid increased 115 percent to comprise 40 percent of all hate crimes in Spain and activists are concerned that the spate of homophobic violence in January may signal a bad year ahead for members of the LGBT community in the Spanish capital.
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