A gay man has shared photos of his injuries after being knocked unconscious ‘for being gay’ on a night out.
Ryan Williams, a 22-year-old receptionist, shared the photos of his badly injured face on Facebook to prove to those behind the homophobic attack they wouldn’t change who he is.
He says he was hit over the head while on a night out in Preston, Lancashire, and fell to the floor before his attackers began kicking him in the face. Following the attack, Ryan was taken for treatment at Royal Preston Hospital.
In his brave Facebook post, Ryan wrote:
I never thought in my life that I would get beaten up for being GAY! Wtf has this world actually come too, you’re all vile and disgusting!
I want people to understand that being gay ISNT a choice and I can’t help it, I’m sorry that you can’t deal with it but hey ho no need to knock someone out because of it! I seriously can not believe that a homophonic attack happens!
Which it does and it’s wrong! Stand strong and love yourself, this isn’t gonna stop me from being fabulous! BEING GAY IS OK!
Ryan explained he was attacked at the end of a night out when he and a friend decided to go to a McDonalds for some food. He claims a group of people nearby in the street started calling him and his friend gay.
He confronted them on their behaviour, telling them it’s not okay to say things like that, and went to walk away but as he did so one of them hit him in the back of the head, The Mirror reports.
Preston Police are treating the attack as a hate crime and Ryan is assisting with their investigation.
A spokesman for Lancashire Police said:
We were called around 6.30am on Saturday (July 13) following reports of an assault in Friargate, Preston.
The attack happened in the centre of Preston, outside a McDonald’s (Image: Google) A man in his 20s had been punched by another man close to McDonalds. The offender then made off from the scene with two men and a woman.
The victim was knocked unconscious suffering facial injuries. He later was taken to Royal Preston Hospital for treatment. The assault is being investigated as a hate crime and enquiries are on-going.
Anyone with information can contact police on 101 quoting log 0311 of July 13.
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More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.