A hotel worker has been physically assaulted by his colleague after months of verbal homophobic harassment, according to a Facebook post.  

Following the attack, Daniele took to Facebook to show photos of his injuries. In the post, he wrote, “Homophobic aggression at the workplace. From a colleague. […] Are we still convinced that the homophobia emergency is not a real emergency?”

A fellow hotel worker would verbally threaten Daniele with comments such as “f**got, I will break your face”. 

Daniele further stated on his Facebook post, “All the staff knew this guy kept threatening me for months, even the hotel manager, and no one moved a finger.”

In one incident, the staff member grabbed Danielle by the collar of his shirt and spat in his face, as reported in Neg.zone. 

Last Monday, Daniele claims he was physically assaulted after he had extinguished a cigarette into an ashtray previously emptied by the aggressor. The staff member shouted, “I don’t want your cigarettes, I work for the hotel, not for you.” 

Daniele spoke about how he was then dragged into a bathroom stall and physically attacked. He said, “I defended myself. I exhausted him and he left, only to return to the office ten minutes later: he put me on the corner and continued.”

As seen in the photos posted to Facebook, Daniele suffered bruises and cuts to the head, shoulders, arms, hip and femur. He has reported it to his superiors, however, does not know what measures have been taken in response. Since the attack, he has not returned to work.

Though LGBT+ activists celebrated the introduction of the Civil Unions Bill, homophobic incidents have been on a steep rise in Italy. In the space of 48 hours during 2018, there were reports of two separate homophobic attacks. Daniele has decided to speak out against the homophobic attack, as he said, “to avoid violence to someone else, or push people who [feel too] oppressed to talk.”