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By Airam Fernández , from Santiago, Chile

Eduardo Hermosilla, 40, reported on Monday that his partner, Joaquín Somella, was attacked by a neighbor outside their home in Valparaíso on Sunday, August 24. The blow with a glass caused a deep head wound, requiring him to be taken to a hospital and later transferred to a clinic. 

In recent days there have been several attacks against sexual diversity in Chile.

The attack and background

Eduardo and Joaquín have lived together for two years, and this isn't the first time they've had problems with this person. Eduardo told Presentes: “He was always yelling things at us. He called us 'faggots,' 'horses,' and other homophobic slurs like that. About three months ago, he tried to hit me for no reason, but Joaquín intervened, and nothing more happened.” 

There was no prior insult on Sunday. Eduardo says that around 2 p.m., his neighbor—who lives across the street—decided to hang a wireless speaker on his fence. Since the music was very loud, a friend who was home at the time went outside to politely ask him to turn it down. “He was drinking, and when she went outside to tell him that, the guy threw a drink in her face, just like that,” Eduardo says. He adds that as soon as Joaquín came out and saw him, he approached him, punched him, and broke a glass over his head. Eduardo was on the second floor of his house, looked out to see what was happening, and ran downstairs. 

“When I arrived, Joaquín was bleeding profusely. I had to go in, pull him out, and get him out of there. In the middle of all that, the guy was yelling very offensive things at us,” he recalls. 

At first they refused to take her complaint

After that scene, they called the police and an ambulance, but no one answered. Eduardo took Joaquín to the Carlos van Buren Hospital. There, he was received by two paramedics from the emergency room. 

“They stitched him up without anesthesia, and in less than five minutes he was out, on his feet. But he felt terrible and was very weak. We asked to speak to a police officer to take our report, but they told us that the ones on duty at the hospital had already left ,” she recounts. From there they went to the Investigations Police (PDI) office in the city center: “They didn’t want to take our report because the medical report said that Joaquín had a minor injury, and for them, that wasn’t serious enough .”

After several hours, the complaint was officially filed and they went home. Eduardo says that a police patrol went to his neighborhood to verify what had happened, even going to the neighbor's house, whom they identified by name. "What they told us was that the neighbor was already calm, that he was having a snack," says Eduardo (In Chile, "tomar once" means to eat something before dinner, with family).

Eduardo is upset by the police response, but also scared because " there is no investigation , much less an arrest warrant, no measures to guarantee that this guy will not attack us again ."

That's why they decided to contact the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation (Movilh) for guidance. Rolando Jiménez, spokesperson for the organization, said they are evaluating what legal action to take against the aggressor and are in communication with the Prosecutor's Office, considering applying the Zamudio Law.

Presentes tried to contact the PDI office where Eduardo and Joaquín filed the complaint, but as of the closing of this note, on Monday afternoon, there were no responses. 

«Let's make it visible and do something.«

Back home that evening, Joaquín began to convulse. Eduardo didn't want to take him to the hospital where he had been treated that afternoon and instead went to a clinic in Viña del Mar, less than 10 kilometers from Valparaíso: “There, as a precaution and following protocol, they tested him for coronavirus, performed a full scan, and saw the stitches, but they also saw that he had glass inside. That's why the doctors scheduled emergency surgery .”

Joaquín underwent surgery early Monday morning. His partner says he is doing well and recovering. She hadn't been able to see his medical report until 2 p.m. and won't be able to see it until Tuesday, when he is discharged. 

Eduardo says they will only be able to feel safe when justice is served: “We want our case to be made public and for the authorities to do something. We can no longer live peacefully there, because that guy doesn't treat us this way just because he doesn't like us or because we did something to him. It's solely because of our sexual orientation, because he thinks we're different from him . With a neighbor like that, we're not safe.”