The attack occurred on Friday, September 1st, and was captured on the La Plata Municipality's security cameras. Jhonan and Joel were waiting for the bus when they were assaulted and insulted by more than ten young men who shouted homophobic slurs at them. By Lucas Gutiérrez. “What are you doing, you fucking faggot?” they yelled at Joel Rochieri, a 24-year-old social work student. Then they delivered a flying kick to his back. It was 11:50 PM on Friday, September 1st, and he was with his boyfriend, Jhonan, at the bus stop located at the intersection of Diagonal 80 and Calle 6 in La Plata. The aggressor was not alone; he was part of a group. “There were between 10 and 20 of them,” Joel told Presentes , adding that on Wednesday they would go to the La Plata Criminal Cassation Court to begin the legal process. Jhonan de La Barrera, a 20-year-old student of Social Work and Communication, recounted on his Facebook account the gang beating of his partner. When Jhonan approached them asking them to leave him alone, one of them yelled, “The Black guy too!” And in addition to stealing his cell phone, they began kicking him.

"They don't know the desperation of being there, of the police driving right past you, of Joel bleeding and not a single car stopping."

When Jhonan and Joel managed to escape, one of the attackers knocked Joel to the ground and hit him on the head with a rock. Realizing Joel was bleeding, the gang fled. Joel needed five stitches and was swollen from the blows. They arrived at the emergency room after shouting and calling for help for a while without any car stopping. Finally, a pickup truck took them. Before that, they had called the police and an ambulance: they never arrived. “Two police motorcycles drove by and ignored us, they never stopped, they just kept going, as if they didn't care,” Joel explains.

“They beat us to death because we are faggots and because we have dark skin.”

The attackers have not yet been located. The post concludes emphatically: “We will not give up, and this only strengthens our resolve to continue fighting. Enough of raising arrogant little men. Sooner rather than later, the patriarchy will fall.” In a statement released by the Argentine Homosexual Community (CHA), its president, César Cigliutti, expressed: “We publicly repudiate and denounce these acts of violence against our LGBTTI community, which are now systematic in the city of La Plata, where Archbishop Monsignor Aguer incessantly promotes discrimination based on our sexual orientation and gender identity.” For his part, the secretary of the CHA, Pedro Paradiso Sottile, commented that it is necessary for the State to intervene with public policies to promote and advance the principles of diversity and the urgent modification of the anti-discrimination law: “one that includes the protection of sexual orientation, gender identity, and its diverse expressions for all citizens, emphasizing education as a central tool for cultural and social transformation in a democratic society.” For now, aside from some pain and a few medical check-ups this week, Jhonan and Joel are doing well, but remain in shock. “The fact that we are homosexual means that, unfortunately, in our daily lives we receive certain stares and insults, but it had never reached this level,” they explained to Presents They added: "Besides filing the complaint, it's important to make this act visible and condemn it."