(Updated 9/21/2017) A gang of four men broke into a man's house while he was sleeping and savagely beat him. They were his neighbors from a neighborhood in the city of Posadas. The victim was hospitalized and took several days to recover. On September 20, he filed a complaint with the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Racism (INADI) in Misiones. He was accompanied by members of Colectivo 108, a civil society group that defends the rights of sexual diversity. In the early morning hours of Sunday, September 10, Sergio (37 years old) was returning home when a group of young men from his neighborhood, who were drinking beer on the corner, began verbally abusing him and then insulting him. One of them followed him to the entrance of his house, saying, "You fucking faggot, we're going to kill you. We hate kids like you." He hit him on the head just before he managed to get inside. A few hours later, around 10 a.m., while Sergio was asleep, they managed to break in. They attacked him with kicks and punches, and smashed furniture and belongings in the house. The complaint was filed by the owner of the boarding house where the victim lives, who immediately called the police upon hearing screams and noises. Four suspects were arrested and recognized by neighbors as members of a local gang. According to the 17th police station, they were identified as Darío S. (27), Luis S. (20), Cristián M. (22), and Adrián O. (18). The assaulted man was treated at Madariaga Hospital for his injuries.

A vicious attack

According to the victim, after the attack in the street, he managed to get inside his house, thought it was all over, and went to sleep. But he woke up to screams and blows, not understanding what was happening. “They beat him savagely: his mouth is completely broken, his teeth are knocked out, his eyes are swollen and black, and he has bruises all over his body. They disfigured him, and besides being afraid to go back home, he's also ashamed to go out in public like this,” he told Presents Gonzalo Bordón Pablos, a lawyer with the organization Colectivo 108, was one of the first to approach the case after learning of it. “It’s not just a case of assault; it’s aggravated by hate based on sexual orientation. Furthermore, several other crimes are involved, among the most serious being trespass and death threats.” [caption id="attachment_4959" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] Illustration: Florencia Capella[/caption]

"There is no doubt that it is a homophobic attack."

Also visiting to offer advice and assistance were Julián Seniuk, the provincial delegate of INADI (National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism), and Walter Bogado, from the Ministry of Human Rights. “While we would prefer that these things didn't happen, it's good to know that in a case like this there is an immediate response and support for the victim,” Seniuk added. He said the attack was so violent that the victim is waiting to recover before filing a report with INADI.

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The complaint has already been filed with the police. But it will only be sent to the Court of Instruction No. 6 in a week. "Robbery or a settling of scores has been ruled out. There is no doubt that it was a homophobic attack. We learned from neighbors that the same group of men had assaulted a trans woman in the neighborhood some time ago," Seniuk added.

Attacks against the LGBT community in Misiones have doubled in one year.

According to Seniuk, in one year complaints of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity went from 8 to 19 percent. “This implies growth within the total and in the cases. The total number of complaints is stable. We can say that we have more than double the number in a year. I'm referring to cases in which rights are violated based on sexual identity, sexual orientation, and gender expression,” Seniuk explained to Presentes.

[READ MORE: Another homophobic attack in Buenos Aires: two in less than 48 hours] 

The lawyer for Collective 108 agreed that there has been an increase in attacks and discrimination against the LGBT community in the province. “In recent years there were almost no cases. But after the transphobic murder of Evelyn Rojas—a young trans woman killed by her partner in October 2016—there was a resurgence. We believe that institutional violence against our community and the rollback of public policies enable this. It's as if there's once again a license to mock trans women, gay men, lesbians,” he lamented. “This is a major cultural setback, but our rights have been won. So we are going to defend them.”

Media: improving news coverage of LGBTIQ+ groups

Some local media outlets in Misiones echoed the news and reported that It was a homophobic attack“It’s a great step forward that the media has finally reported on a homophobic attack,” highlighted Yanina López, Communications Coordinator for Colectivo 108. However, she cautioned that the two media outlets that published articles relegated them to the crime section. “They also used terms like ‘sexual preferences.’ We need to talk about sexual orientations. One of the articles referred to it as a ‘supposed homophobic attack,’ which casts doubt on what actually happened. They didn’t address the issue from the perspective of human rights violations. Nor did they cover LGBTQ+ topics.” López asked the media to “try to refer to or contact us, as we are always close to the collectives in Posadas. There is material on…” FOPEA and of the Public Defender's Office to access respectful treatment and terminology.”