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A group of people who attended the 30th Pride March on Saturday reported being assaulted by employees of Monday Buenos Aires, a bar located at the corner of Callao and Rivadavia streets in the Balvanera neighborhood of Buenos Aires, towards the end of the celebration. The attacks ranged from pepper spray to a bottle being thrown at one of the victims' heads. The aggressors acted when a bottleneck formed at the entrance of the bar due to the passage of the parade floats.

Mailén Eliges, 26, was one of the participants in the march who had gone to celebrate and ended up being physically assaulted by employees of the bar located across from the National Congress. After gathering documentary evidence and testimonies from around twenty people who also witnessed the incident, she accompanied her brother this Tuesday to file a complaint with the Public Prosecutor's Office.

“When the march ended, around 9:30 p.m., while people were heading to the floats, Sara Hebe was playing on the stage at the Congress building and Sudor Marika was performing at Espacio Mu, so a bottleneck formed at the corner of Callao and Rivadavia. A surge of people ensued, and everyone crashed into the bar's window,” Mailén told Presentes, providing an overview of the scene.

"Nobody wanted to go into the restaurant"

Faced with this situation, the employees "took it as an attack on the bar," according to those who witnessed the incident. "They started grabbing the tabletops and using them as a barricade against the windows, pushing people out," said Mailén, who also told this publication that she was physically assaulted by one of the workers while arguing about the treatment they were receiving.

“Nobody wanted to go into the restaurant, nobody wanted to take over the place or anything like that,” emphasized Agustina Mariel Benítez Aparicio, 23, who came to the march from Merlo with a friend and her family. “Because of so much pressure,” she continued, “at one point the doors opened. A big man came out, pulled out pepper spray, and started spraying it everywhere, like air freshener, even in the face of the girl in front of me, and that's why she fainted.”

Meanwhile, a video of Nicher—who prefers to keep his Instagram profile name private—circulated this week in which he recounts the attack he suffered when he tried to intervene. “There was a struggle until I was hit, which I later learned was with a bottle,” he said in the video, although in an interview with Presentes he clarified that it is now believed the object was a glass. He received treatment for the attack in the tents and at an emergency room where he was given “two stitches in the neck, one in the ear, and one behind the ear.”

“I hope all of this gets out there and reaches some point because it’s not good that this is happening. We’ve been waiting for this march for a long time to go and be proud, to demand our rights, to live our diversity in peace, and the truth is, it’s not good that we have to go back home with that anguish, frustration, and helplessness, and on top of that, with our heads feeling a bit broken,” she said.

File a complaint with the Public Prosecutor's Office

The victims reported that the LGBT Ombudsman's Office and the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Racism (INADI) offered their assistance. Furthermore, on Tuesday afternoon, Jano Alhué Elijes, a trans man who witnessed the incident, filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor's Office, while a group of people gathered in front of the Monday Buenos Aires store to protest what had happened.

Monday Buenos Aires responded to user reviews on Google Maps, as comments on their Instagram profile are disabled. Regarding the comment "Customer mistreatment, waiters threw pepper spray at people protesting outside, injuring a ten-year-old girl," the bar owner denied this version of events.

“Are we all victims? And are the employees the bad guys? Alcohol wreaks havoc, especially when mixed with other substances. A night that was supposed to be a celebration was ruined,” they responded. They added, “I would love to hear from the women we let in who were having panic attacks, those who were feeling unwell, and those who had children.”

Regarding this, Eva Vanessa Díaz López, another attendee who was wearing a red latex dress, told Presentes that she kicked the door of the venue because “they let my 14-year-old daughter in and wouldn't let me in. I was desperate, she has allergies, I do too, and I also have epilepsy.” 

“We urgently demand a response from those responsible for the bar, the immediate intervention of the Prosecutor's Office, and that the corresponding measures be taken given the magnitude of the events described, aggravated by being directed at the LGBT+ community in the context of the Pride march, which is supposed to be a space for celebration and reaffirmation,” concludes the text of the complaint filed this Tuesday.