Hundreds in Colombia gather over the weekend to stage kiss-a-thon in support of a gay couple harassed with homophobic abuse

*story contains two aggressive videos which some may find upsetting, skip past and straight to the bottom for the happy ending*

A gay couple in Colombia received abuse for kissing in a public park. So hundreds of people from the community gathered in that same park and staged a queer kiss-a-thon

And our hearts are absolutely melting. 

 

Santiago Maldonado and Jorge Esteban Farías were targeted by a group of women, one of whom was wielding a broomstick, after the two kissed in a public park, the BBC reported.

 

In a video shared to Twitter (below), a group of women can be heard verbally attacking the gay couple, saying “in this neighbourhood we don’t allow sex in the park, especially not in front of children”.

The young men can then be heard asking “what sex?”, saying that they had only kissed.

The woman then begin making threats, shouting, “If you don’t leave, we’ll lynch you”.

 

 

The couple reported the incident and David Alonzo, the official in charge of sexual diversity in Bogotá, who said it was being investigated. While Claudia López, Bogotá’s first gay mayor, wrote on Twitter with a defiant message promising to “fight until equality is the norm”.

 

 

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Same-sex marriage was legalised in Colombia in 2016 and discrimination against LGBTQ+ people is prohibited in the county, but homophobic attacks and aggressions are still common in some areas.

 

This is one of those occasions where social media becomes BRILLIANT…

 

Saddened and outraged by what they were seeing online, some social media users decided to organise a peaceful but defiant protest to show solidarity to the couple and send a message that hate will not win.

 

On Sunday (July 31), at the same Bogotá park where the couple had been harassed and threatened, hundreds of same-sex couples gathered and staged a ‘kiss-a-thon’.

Some held signs with messages reading “Kisses are signs of affection, not a crime” and “We want to be able to kiss without being monitored”, while others waved Pride flags, danced, celebrated… and kissed.

 

How beautiful. 

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