Lesbophobia in Chile: a man attacked his female neighbors and threatened to kill them
A man assaulted and threatened to kill a lesbian couple in the Renca district of Santiago.
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On January 15, when the Chilean Senate approved the debate on the equal marriage bill, a man assaulted and threatened to kill a lesbian couple in the Renca district of Santiago.
Around 9 p.m., Tatiana Avendaño and María José Yañez were painting the gates of their house. Mauricio García Silva, their next-door neighbor, passed by and began insulting them: “Get out of the way, you fucking faggot (…) I have this for you and I’m going to turn your ass inside out.” This is stated in the complaint that both filed with the Santiago Central Prosecutor’s Office, under number 2000062003-4.
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Tatiana, 44, told Presentes that she tried to stop his insults and asked him to leave. He ignored her and moved closer, looking directly at María José and speaking: “I’m going to suck your tits like no one else and make you a woman, you sick faggot, I have a hard-on, look at it,” he yelled while grabbing her back. María José warned him that the security cameras they had installed some time ago at the entrance of the house were recording him. That’s when he threatened to kill her: “I’m going to hit you and kill you, you fucking faggot,” he yelled.
The aggressor left, but soon returned with a metal rod and lunged at them, trying to hit them. They struggled for about six minutes, Tatiana recalls. Then he spat in her face while continuing to shout that he wanted to kill and rape María José, until another neighbor arrived to defend them and try to stop it. “Only then did he calm down and stop saying all those vulgar things to us; otherwise, I don’t know what would have happened,” she says. He left and didn’t come out again for a while, but the security cameras also captured him standing in front of the house that night.
History of assaults and protective measures
Although this is the first time this neighbor has attacked them in this way, Tatiana said they aren't surprised because they are constantly assaulted and harassed by the man's mother. “The woman is just as homophobic. In 2016, she confirmed that we were a couple because she asked me, and I said yes. The problems started ever since, and she even once assaulted María José, hitting her in the face with keys. At that time, we also went to the Prosecutor's Office to file a report, but they told us that since there was no evidence or recording, they couldn't do anything. That's why we decided to install cameras,” she said.
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Prosecutor Patricia Varas granted a protection order for the couple: 30 days for Tatiana and 90 days for María José, because the death threats were more serious directed at her. Despite this, Tatiana is still waiting for the Prosecutor's Office to contact them to explain the protocol for this protection: “We are very scared. If something happens to us, they'll know who did it.”
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