Fashion designer and boyfriend beaten in ‘homophobic’ attack
Markantoine Lynch-Boisvert posted a photo of himself after the attack. (Markantoine Lynch-boisvert/Facebook)
A Quebec fashion designer has said that he and his boyfriend were left bloodied and beaten in an alleged homophobic assault in Quebec, Canada, on Friday, August 23.
Markantoine Lynch-Boisvert said that he and his partner Alex James Taboureau were walking out of a Bar Le Jazz in the municipality of La Malbaie when a man started subjecting them to homophobic insults, according to Canadian broadcaster CBC.
The fashion designer said that the man then confronted them outside the venue and head-butted him in the face, while two other assailants assaulted his boyfriend of seven years.
Fashion designer and boyfriend hospitalised in alleged homophobic attack.
He said that the three men assaulted him again shortly after the initial attack, knocking him to the ground.
Taking to Facebook on Saturday, August 24, Lynch-Boisvert uploaded a photo of himself in hospital with swelling to his face and a black eye.
“I can still hear how one of the guys said ‘Stop you’re going to kill him’ to the one who was freely kicking my face, [while] Alex struggled to try to help me, the fear in his eyes,” Lynch-Boisvert posted on Facebook.
Lynch-Boisvert said he and his boyfriend eventually managed to escape in a taxi, before they called an ambulance.
“I was dizzy, I couldn’t see anything, there was blood everywhere,” he told Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail.
He said the attack left him vomiting from his head injury and covered in blood.
I was dizzy, I couldn’t see anything, there was blood everywhere.
Taking to Instagram, Lynch-Boisvert, who runs fashion label Markantoine, praised people for their support over the alleged assault.
“Thank you for this beautiful wave of love,” he wrote.
“No fight or battle is won, but love remains the best weapon, a surefire weapon.”
Mayor of Montreal condemns attack on Twitter.
The Mayor of Montreal condemned the alleged homophobic assault on Twitter. (Val_Plante)
Public figures have condemned the attack on social media.
“Sad and disturbing to note such homophobic gestures,” wrote the mayor of Montreal Valérie Plante on Twitter.
“This is why we must continue to sensitise, educate and strongly condemn these behaviours.”
Provincial police in Quebec confirmed to The Globe and Mail that they responded to a call on Friday night in La Malbaie when two men were taken to hospital.
A spokesperson said the force is investigating the incident.
