By: Khant Si Thu
While pride month has commenced for 2021, it doesn't mean that people should ignore anything related to the LGBTQ+ community together, for homophobia doesn't stop right after June. It continues all year round, and in this case, it has claimed the life of 24-year-old Samuel Luiz.
The incident occurred in the early hours of Saturday morning in the northwestern city of A Coruña in Galicia. The attack happened at 3 am on Saturday, which was just the second night that nightlife venues had reopened in Galicia since coronavirus restrictions lifted. Luiz was with some friends outside the nightclub and spoke on a video call on his cellphone – prompting a group of people to think he was recording them. One group alleged to have verbally engaged with Luiz and then punched him before the rest of the men became involved in the assault. Luiz later died in hospital from his injuries.
While currently an investigation is underway, the female friends accompanying Samuel during his final moments stated that they believe there was a homophobic motive to the assault. Additionally, one of Liz’s friends has publicly vocalized these claims on social media. This incident has resulted in a vast political movement, with thousands of people on Monday evening filling up The María Pita square in A Coruñavast, expressing their support for friends and families of Luiz, who lost his life during Pride Weekend. The female friends who were present during the assault were also there. They made public addresses calling for the case to be resolved and requesting respect for the young man's family, who opted not to come to the protests. As hours before, the victim’s father, Max Luiz, called for the murder of his son not to be used as a “flag” and recommended that attendees at the protest donate food to the Red Cross, saying;
"I know that would have made my son happy,”
Since then, donations have piled up outside the Palacio Municipal building, protected from the intermittent rain showers that accompanied the demonstration. The incident against members of the LGBTQ+ community has not been singled out to just one particular individual as just a few days ago, a homosexual couple was attacked in A Coruña, as was a trans woman in Santiago the night after the crime involving Luiz. Alongside the incident that occured at the Somorrostro beach in the Barceloneta neighborhood of Barcelona where two homosexual couples and a heterosexual couple were approached by four individuals where one shouted, “You fucking faggots!”. At the same time, another spits at one of the young men. Next was another threat which was “I’ll cut the throat of anyone who raises an eyebrow!” These threats later came along with relentless series of punches and kicks. Finally, one of the attackers pushes the heterosexual couple aside to focus on the four gay men. One of the four knocked to the ground. He tries to get up but receives a brutal kick in the mouth that leaves him semi-conscious on the sand. He had a broken jaw and has lost several teeth. The other three victims were luckier; despite their injuries, they did not require medical treatment.
So understandably, there is a pretty good reason why this protest is taking place. There were also protests on the streets of Asturias, Aragón, Castilla y León, Catalonia, Castilla-La Mancha, Valencia, La Rioja, Murcia, Andalusia, Extremadura and Madrid. In the Spanish capital, thousands of people took to the central Puerta del Sol square. The rally's slogan was: “No more deaths due to hate, intolerance or discrimination.”
“We are here for Samuel, not just for him, but for everyone who has suffered or could suffer homophobic assaults,” shouted Diego Rubia, 21, holding a placard in the air. “They didn’t kill him; they’ve murdered him;” “Get fascists out of our neighborhoods;” “They killed Samuel for being a fag,” were some of the other slogans heard in the square on Monday night.
Riot police units from the National Police closed in on the demonstrators at the intersection of Alberto Aguilera and Princesa streets in the Argüelles area of Madrid, according to news agency Europa Press, to stop the demonstration from marching further. The agency reported that police charged against some demonstrators and several skirmishes between protestors and officers. The police tried to clear the demonstrators from the public way.
Hate crimes towards members of the LGBTQ+ community have currently been occurring more frequently, with three reported cases in three months. So naturally, it does hurt to see innocent people ending lives just because of their personal sexual preferences, as no one should be punished or shunned for loving someone. But fortunately, in this case, it seems like justice has been served as on 7th July 2021, Spain’s National Police have arrested three people on suspicion of their involvement in the murder of Samuel Luiz. This information was from police sources, who spoke to EL PAÍS. The arrests took place on Tuesday, three days after the killing. The people arrested so far have Spanish nationality. However, officers are not ruling out more detentions and are still taking statements from those who were present. The investigation is currently taking place under the judicial seal.
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