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In the early hours of January 29, a man who had already been harassing a lesbian family in Cañuelas, Buenos Aires province, set fire to their home. Security cameras captured Orlando Alcides Lutz Fogar dousing it with fuel around 3:40 a.m. on Wednesday.

"Hate speech breeds violence. This is further proof," the Argentine LGBT+ Federation (FALGBT) expressed in a statement . This incident occurred just days after President Javier Milei's speech at the Davos Economic Forum, where he targeted people of color. As Presentes explained in this article , his words are a mixture of misinformation, lies, fallacies, and manipulation, and they enable not only other hate speech but also violence.

“Harassment escalated with hate speech”

Agui and Vane are a couple with a 5-year-old daughter. They lived in the house that was destroyed by the fire. They told Presentes that they had managed, with great effort, to buy a piece of land in Cañuelas. When they arrived, they learned about the violence Lutz Fogar was inflicting on another couple: “We were able to buy a piece of land in Cañuelas and build a house during this time. From the moment we set foot there, we learned about this type of violence against another female couple who lived there, just a few meters away. He also had another episode of violence with another neighbor who is a friend of ours Agui, a non-binary lesbian, told Presentes

“When in one of these violent episodes with this couple we intervened to let them know that the girls were not alone, because we know what it is about,

"The ongoing harassment began. It escalated as the hate speech in general escalated, obviously fueled by the president's speeches a couple of days ago," Agui warned. 

Speaking to C5N, Fernanda, a neighbor of the family who also reported threats and assaults by the same man, explained: “ They lost everything. Two mothers with a 5-year-old daughter lost everything. Thank goodness they weren't here. But even so, they were left homeless.”

“All of this is a reflection of society. The president recently gave a highly homophobic speech in Davos, and he's the president-elect of Argentina. He represents our society; there are many people who think like him,” he added.

This is not the first act of LesboHate.

This isn't the first time Lutz Fogar has attacked this family. It began in 2022, when they moved to the semi-rural area of ​​Cañuelas seeking peace and contact with nature. Since 2022, the attacker had been constantly monitoring the family home, including photographs, threatening gestures, and acts of intimidation that severely limited their freedom of movement. This is according to a FALGBT report, which states that the couple no longer wanted—could not—walk or ride their bikes on the street, nor could they allow their daughter to go outside to play. 

The situation had become so critical that when the attacker pointed a laser sight at them, they were forced to abandon their home. They weren't there at the time of the fire. Fearing, they had fled the place they had come to in search of peace. A neighbor told them she saw the house on fire.

"The terrible thing about this whole situation is that there are almost 10 unified complaints, and based on the documents I had to present with my lawyer, everything is consolidated with the prosecutor's office. The 8th Court of Guarantees knows about it; everything has been presented, and yet this guy does absolutely whatever he wants, violating a restraining order as many times as he wants, " Agui told Presentes .

Despite multiple complaints, the judicial response was limited to a restraining order for only one of them, which, they explained, was never enforced. Since there was no response from the courts, the family left the neighborhood to try to rebuild their lives elsewhere.

Judicial inaction

"Hate enables violence and generates concrete consequences in the lives of real people, like this family," stated the FALGBT. It also denounced the inaction of multiple judicial bodies, including the UFIyJ No. 1 of Cañuelas, the UDF of Cañuelas, and the JG No. 8, in relation to Case 2361/23.

Dr. Mayra Daniela Guzmán, the family's attorney, announced that a report has already been filed at the police station and that she will request the arrest of the attacker for attempted femicide. She will make her presentations to the prosecutor's office on Monday. 

She also explained to Presentes : “The first complaint filed was with the women's police station requesting a restraining order, due to the harassment this man carried out against my clients and their minor daughter: he would follow them, intercept them on the street, stand with binoculars from his house pointing at their house, constantly.”

Although the Prosecutor's Office granted the security measure, the lawyer explained that it was never enforced. "When a restraining order is issued and it is violated, it constitutes the crime known as disobedience under Article 239 of the Penal Code. A complaint is filed again, requesting that the disobedience be allowed and the arrest. This was done repeatedly, and the Prosecutor's Office and the Court of Guarantees did well, thank you."

"What we're trying to do is make sure this guy doesn't hurt anyone else. Material things can be recovered; luckily, there are support networks and activists, but this guy needs to be in jail because he's dangerous to everyone," Agui said.

Anti-Fascist and Anti-Racist Pride March in Argentina and around the world

The attack comes amid growing concern about anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric from institutional forums. In response to the president's remarks at Davos, LGBTIQ+ organizations called for an Anti-Fascist and Anti-Racist Pride March, seeking to highlight the seriousness of hate speech from the president and other government officials and how it enables situations of violence like this. You can find out where to march in Argentina and in several cities around the world that joined the call here .

The FALGBT issued a resounding call: "We will work to ensure that this murderer is imprisoned and that no public official continues to incite this violence. Hate speech kills! ENOUGH HATE!"