A journalist has described the shocking moment an 'aggressive drunk' hurled vile homophobic abuse at him and a friend then shoved him into the side of a taxi.
Daniel McLaughlin, a podcast producer based at the Manchester Evening News , was waiting for a taxi in the early hours of Friday morning (August 12) after a night out in Manchester's Gay Village.
The 28-year-old, who is bisexual and was wearing a rainbow badge, was stood with his non-binary friend waiting for the taxi to arrive on Sackville Street at the time. Daniel said he noticed a man who appeared to be in his early 20s heading towards them from Sackville Gardens.
The man could be heard 'muttering to himself', Daniel said, then directed 'absolute hatred' towards them. Daniel said: "He was calling us nonces, f******s, perverts - every homophobic slur under the sun. He fixated on calling us names.
"I started saying 'we're not nonces, we're puffs, there's a difference' - to which he became more aggrieved, shouting the same slurs. He was clearly inebriated, clearly angry about something.
"He started to get right up in my face, pushing me, shoving me, grabbing me and kicking me in the legs quite hard, then he went to go towards my friend. He said 'you are in my space, you are trying to touch me, you queer'."
Daniel, from Lancashire, said that as the taxi was still moving before pulling up to pick him up, the man pushed him into the side of it. He then continued to hurl abuse and followed Daniel as he tried to get into the car on the other side.
The man begun shouting 'get in the f****** car right now', Daniel told the M.E.N. As soon as they got inside, the driver swiftly pulled away.
Daniel said the 'old slurs' that were hurled towards him and his friend were 'nothing original' - but the man's young age and aggression had shocked him. He said: "It didn't particularly hurt - he was drunk, they were not focused attacks. But the thing I found the worst was the absolute hatred in his eyes - just the aggression and hatred towards us.
"We hadn't done anything. We had stood outside. But there was absolute hatred towards us - and the fact this guy was our age, to come up with this vitriol.
"My theory was he had all this pent up aggression, I think he went to the Gay Village looking for a fight, he went there with the purpose of starting trouble. The words he was using were recycled, words he had clearly heard elsewhere - just archaic, older insults.
"He wasn't making arguments, he was just using the words, he wasn't stringing a full sentence together."
Daniel didn't report the incident to police, believing there was 'very little they could have done'. Thankfully, he didn't suffer any major injuries from the attack, but said it did highlight to him concerns about the safety of the LGBTQ community away from Canal Street itself.
He added: "It's something that's not untypical - and that's the frightening thing really. I moved to Manchester in 2012 for university and one of the big reasons was the Gay Village. I wasn't quite out the closet at the time but having this place where I could be myself.
"That's why so many gay people move to Manchester, but in recent years it's not felt like a sanctuary. It's not necessarily aggressive, but I feel that the queer community is being pushed out - it's very hen party-ish.
"The village itself I think would be safe, but because we had just left the Gay Village at Sackville Gardens - just a bit further away - that's where the protection ends. I do feel trepidation when I exit the village."
Coun Pat Karney, Manchester council's city centre spokesman, said he was appalled to hear of Daniel's ordeal. He told the M.E.N.: "I was horrified to read that this is still taking place on the streets of Manchester. How long do people have to wait before this homophobic hate has to end?"
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