Outrage after homophobic assault in Chelmsford

A man in Chelmsford, Essex, suffered a brutal homophobic assault on Sunday of last week.

Lee Brobson was on a night out with two friends, Dan and Clark, in Chelmsford when the attack happened.

He told Socialist Worker, “Dan and Clark were holding hands as we walked down the street.

“There were two guys outside the fish and chip shop and we noticed that they were staring at us.

Clark said, ‘Hello’, as in to say, ‘what are you staring at’ and they came charging over, pushed Dan and swung for him.”

Lee was badly beaten and hospitalised after he jumped in to help his friends.

The Chelmsford attack comes amid a rise in hate crime against LGBT+ people.

“It’s not all rainbows for the LGBT community,” said. Lee.

“Attacks might not be a day to day thing, but we still have the experience, whether it’s cat calling or discrimination.

Lee said Boris Johnson’s premiership meant “right wingers feel they’ve got the country now”.

He added that people had to spread the word and push back against bigotry.