‘Tip of the iceberg’ warning by a councillor from Elche, Alicante

COUNCILLOR Mariano Valera was the victim of a verbal homophobic attack on May 7.

Valera,  Elche’s Equality, Social Rights and Inclusive Policies councillor, related on his social media accounts that he and his husband were walking hand-in-hand in Santa Pola, enjoying the splendid weather.

Two youths of around 18 or 20 on bicycles stood in front of the couple, who waited for them to pass. 

“They looked at us and shouted ‘perverts’ which left us perplexed, not knowing what to say or do,” Valera said.

He explained that he felt like running after and them and calling the police to report a hate crime but they were on bicycles and it was impossible to catch up with them.

“So I decided to denounce what happened here,” he wrote on Facebook.

“I feel angry, very angry about what happened and continues to happen.”

Valera said that he wanted people to know about the incident, to demonstrate that it was never necessary to hide away from anything.

“On the contrary,” he declared.

“People still question the need for protest events and ask why we go out on the streets but this is only the tip of the iceberg,” Valero said, referring to the Santa Pola incident. 

“Love can’t be a crime, hate is the crime.”

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