BY NATASHA BARSOTTI — Gay Star News (GSN) reports that three masked men attacked openly gay MP Tasso Stafilidis and a friend in Athens, Greece.
According to the report, Stafilidis and his friend thought they were being robbed, but the men who allegedly targeted them with homophobic slurs, didn’t take anything from them after the attack. Photos of Stafilidis published in Sweden’s Aftondbladet newspaper show that he sustained injuries to his face and head. GSN says it’s unknown whether Stafilidis’s companion was injured.
The MP reportedly told Aftonbladet that he’s concerned about the impact the European Union’s economic troubles may be having on tolerance for minorities. He is quoted as saying, “these things go hand-in-hand when a country’s prosperity collapses.”
GSN notes that the Golden Dawn party, described as rightwing and anti-immigrant, recently secured 18 out of 300 seats in a rerun of Greek parliamentary elections in June last year. The party’s share of the popular vote was just below seven percent.
Landing image: gaytalk2011.blogspot.com
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