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On Monday, March 25, Fernanda Pereira and Vannia Díaz, a lesbian couple, were discriminated against by a security guard at a Tottus supermarket. “A few minutes after we went inside to do our shopping, a security guard approached us and confronted us about our sexual orientation. He said, 'I want to ask you a question […] why are you spoiling your food?' This came after Vannia Díaz said to her partner, 'Honey, what would you prefer to take?' I asked him to please leave or I would deal with the situation differently. He persisted and started insulting us, so I decided to record him and confront him,” Fernanda told El Dinamo.

[READ ALSO: Brutal attack on trans man: he was beaten and a swastika was carved into his body]

The couple shared the video on social media. The women recounted that the security guard repeated the incident to Tottus supervisors, but they took no concrete action at the time of the assault.

Tomorrow, Friday, March 29th at 9:00 AM, the couple will file a lawsuit against the supermarket employees in the Seventh Court of Santiago.

[READ ALSO: Chilean justice classifies a hate crime as a “crime of passion”]

Movilh spokesperson Daniela Andrade expressed solidarity with the victims and stated, “We strongly condemn this unacceptable form of discrimination, which violates both the Zamudio Law and the Consumer Protection Law. It is equally regrettable that no one from the supermarket took immediate action in response to this blatant illegality and abuse, which is deeply misogynistic and lesbophobic.”

Supermarket statement

According to El Dinamo, Tottus Supermarkets, through a statement, categorically rejected "any type of discrimination and stated that its policy has always been to treat all its customers with respect and dignity."

Movilh held the company responsible for being complicit in homophobic attacks. They also denounced "the company's insensitivity towards LGBTI rights."

[READ ALSO: Chile accumulates a record number of violence against LGBT people in the last year]

“We are on alert in the face of this wave of violence against sexual diversity ,” Oscar Rementería, spokesperson for the organization, told Presentes.

So far in 2019, Movilh has registered 10  hate crimes : a “corrective” rape of a lesbian, a 56-year-old man being doused with boiling water, a 24-year-old man being tortured and burned with cigarettes, the murder of a gay cook, a homophobic attack on a bus, and three lesbophobic attacks on the street. One of the victims was Carolina Torres, who spent three weeks in intensive care and whose attackers remain free, despite being fully identified. On March 13, a trans man was beaten and had a swastika carved into his body.