Julian Suarez, a gay man in New Zealand, has claimed he was a victim of a hate crime after being violently attacked in a central Auckland gay bar
Suarez, who is originally from Colombia, and his friends had attended Family Bar in the city, dancing and going between the spaces connected to the venue.
Coming back upstairs from a dance area, Suarez stopped at the toilets near the stairs.
“I don’t have memory, until I was taken out the place in an ambulance,” he said.
Suarez did not remember what happened in the toilets, but made a report while in the ambulance that three men had attacked him.
“I was taken out, I was bleeding, my costume was destroyed. I had a harness, and I have a big scratch on my chest, so I guess that they ripped my toga off.”
He said he believed he was attacked because he was gay, and because of the way he was dressed.
“I love New Zealand, and this is my country, this is my home. This is the second safest country in the world, and this happened here, and I came from one of the most dangerous countries in the world, Colombia.”
Suarez’s friend and flatmate posted a video to social media about the assault, which has been viewed tens of thousands of times.
Family Bar operations manager Grady Elliot said the security guards gave Suarez a bottle of water and towels to clean up the blood after the attack.
Elliot said: “Family Bar is committed to safety and zero tolerance for any violence or discrimination.
“We are shocked and deeply dismayed at the incident that occurred over the weekend.”
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