Homophobia in Medellin: biker was threatened with knife and gun for hugging another man

In Medellín (Antioquia), the situation continues to be complicated for the LGBTIQ+ community, where there is alarm about the increase in homicides of members of this community, now a homophobic attack on a biker was reported in that city.

According to Caracol Radio, the victim was in the vicinity of the stadium area where he said goodbye to a friend's embrace. However, when he was heading towards his motorcycle, he was approached by two men who threatened him with knives and firearms because of the show of affection he had previously had.

“I was going to get on my motorcycle, I put the key and two guys approached me one with a knife and the other with a gun, the knife was put in my stomach and the gun to my head grabbed my arm,” the affected man narrated on the radio.

During the distressing action, they began to question him whether he was a homosexual and then told him that he was going to murder men with that sexual orientation.

“They started asking me questions about why I was there, why I was giving me hugs with other men. They told me that they were going to give me lead and that they were discharging all the faggots,” said the victim biker.

On that station they indicated that the biker managed to start the vehicle and flee the place, although he suffered some lacerations due to the way he was held.

Last week, in response to Infobae, the administration of the capital of Antioquia said that “in 2022 there has been an increase in physical violence and aggressions that endanger the lives, integrity and safety of people with gay sexual orientation in Medellin.” Although they also recognize the vulnerability of trans people, the main victims of violence.

This increase is mainly due to the 6 homicides of gay men that occurred in the first quarter of the year in the city. All from people between 27 and 30 years of age, two of whom have already been clarified with the capture of two perpetrators in different cases.

The other four cases are still under investigation with the support of an interdisciplinary investigative group, from the Mayor's Office, together with the Office of the Prosecutor and the Police, and with the offer of up to 80 million pesos for information allowing their capture.

The details of the investigation are kept under summary reserve, but as explained by the Mayor's Office, common elements have been identified in the six recorded homicides: alleged use of dating apps and sexual encounters through which victims and perpetrators were contacted, the non-use of firearms and the apparent the absence of a prior link between the victims and the aggressors.

“The analysis that allows the situation to be carried out is the warning about the use of dating and sexual encounters applications, in general and not only by the LGBTIQ+ population, since it exposes people to possible risks such as those of the regrettable cases that have already occurred. That is why the invitation is not to stop enjoying free sexual and erotic lives, but to take precautions when it comes to generating encounters with strangers,” said the Mayor's Office.

Other common elements are that victims have been attacked in hotels or in their own homes. For that reason, the administration notified the closure of one of the hotels where one of the murders investigated took place in the San Joaquín neighborhood.

Likewise, together with the Metropolitan Police and the Mayor's Office, they have worked to intensify controls in hotels and motels in the areas where the events occurred, mainly in commune 8, to ensure compliance with the rules for the operation of these spaces.

According to figures, still under verification, from the organization Colombia Diversa, in the first quarter of 2021 there were 2 homicides of gay men in the city of Medellin, while the figures for the first months of 2022 are triple.

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