Wales Man Doused in Gasoline, Left Blinded In One Eye Following Anti-gay Attack

A young Wales man was left blinded in one eye following a homophobic attack late Thursday, Wales Online reports

Tyler Maddick, 20, was walking home from downtown Swansea when someone in a car next to him called him "faggot" and threw gasoline in his face. 

“Next thing I knew I’d got this liquid in my face. I ran home but I couldn’t call anyone because my phone had died.

“I washed it out as my eye was starting to burn up.”

Maddick went to the hospital the following day and was told that he had lost all vision in his left eye. 

“To be fair I think I was more angry than anything. I’m quite a strong-minded person and it wasn’t so much that they had done it, it was the fact that they targeted me because if they can pick on me they can pick on anyone," he said.

Police are continuing to investigate the anti-gay attack.

Two Iranian Men Reportedly Hanged For Being Gay

The Daily Beast reports that two Iranian men, Abdullah Ghavami Chahzanjiru and Salman Ghanbari Chahzanjiri, were hanged on August 6th, according to at least one report, for “consensual sodomy." Another report is not as specific about the crimes committed by these men but names them as “immoral villains.” Should it be proved that Chahzanjiru and Chahzanjiri were killed for being gay, the tragic event would only further propel the existing narrative that Iran doles out draconian punishments for its gay citizenry. 

In his piece in The Daily Beast, Jay Michaelson points out that this latest human rights infraction comes as the U.S. is seeking to “engage” Iran diplomatically as tensions continue to escalate in neighboring Iraq due to the emergence of I.S.I.S. and the subsequent unraveling of now ex-Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government. Interestingly enough, however, is who amongst this country’s political elite have taken up the mantle of activist humanitarians where the rights of LGBT Iranians are concerned. Michaelson writes:

In the topsy-turvy world that is international LGBT politics, Iran’s record on homosexuality is more a conservative cause than a liberal one…When Iran persecutes gay people, conservatives in the United States suddenly become enamored of gay rights—and bash the Obama administration for not doing enough to defend them. Thus the administration is hit from all sides—at a moment in which it is trying to pursue its dicey diplomatic agenda.

Gay Man Attacked with Glass Bottle in Oslo After Being Asked if He is Gay

Keith Brooks-Bekkestrom was attacked in a park in Oslo, Norway by two men who approached him on a bench and asked if he was gay. Brooks-Bekkestrom sais he was confused about why they asked him but replied 'yes' when they did.

The two men then proceeded to attack him and when he fought back to defend himself a third man approached and struck him in the head with a bottle. Another man who was in the park with his family came to help and the attackers fled, according to media reports.

The man helped Brooks-Bekkestrom wash his wounds in a fountain and call police.

Said Brooks-Bekkestrom to Norwegian media: "They had to sew a deep wound, so I have a pain in my head. They had to sew over my eye, and I have a wound on his arm. I do not feel safe here anymore, it will take some time."

Wrote Brooks-Bekkestrom yesterday on Facebook: "I'm very happy to report that today's hearing at the Oslo Courthouse went incredibly smoothly. The three men who attacked me were not present in the courtroom. I was required to describe the incident to a prosecutor, defense lawyers and judges, with help of an interpreter. We will see how the case continues, but I have to show my deep appreciation to Alexander Aronsen,Martin Phillip Fjellanger, Sebastian Forbes, and the American embassy representative (c/o Ashley Rainey Donahey) who were with me the entire hearing, along with Eirik Willyson, who came as well. And of course, all of you in spirit. It meant a great deal to me that you were there, and that I was not alone."

Brooks-Bekkestrom also wrote: "A lot of people have perceptions about Norway and Scandinavia being safe for LGBT people, but this illustrates that homophobia exists everywhere and that there is still much work to be done around the world."

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