• Puerta del Sol protest points to 64 LGBTphobic attacks in Madrid since Jan. 1st
• Demand city & regional gov’t action to deter, penalize homophobic hate crimes
Hundreds of activists and supporters of LGBT rights gathered in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol Saturday to denounce ongoing violence against the LGBT community in Spain’s capital city and call on Madrid’s municipal and regional government officials to do more to protect individuals against homophobic attacks.
Called by the Madrid LGBT community organization Arcopoli and the umbrella Observatorio Madrileño Contra la LGTBfobia (“Madrid Monitor Against LGBTphobia”), the protest pointed to 64 denunciations of assaults against LGBT individuals in Madrid so far this year, particularly in and around the inner-city neighborhood of Chueca, as evidence that neither city nor regional authorities are doing enough to deter and penalize attacks homophobic attacks in Madrid.
More than a dozen LGBT organizations and representatives of several political parties joined the protest on Saturday, calling for establishment of an office to handle denunciations of homophobic and hate-crimes within the municipal administration of progressive Madrid Mayor Manuela Carmena and demanding urgent action by the Madrid regional assembly to debate and pass a proposed Law for Protection Against Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Diversity or Gender.
► Read More in Spanish at El País and Cadena SER …
► Read More in English at El País
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