Violence during Pride in La Rioja: three attacks in one week
What should have been a week of celebration, vindication and pride in Logroño has ended up marked by fear and violence. Three attacks on people from the LGTBIQ+ community – two of them on trans women – occurred at different times during the days before and on the same day of the Pride demonstration. One of the victims remains hospitalized and requires facial reconstruction through surgery.
The GYLDA association, which works to defend LGTBIQ+ rights in La Rioja, has publicly denounced these attacks and has demanded urgent responses to a scenario that, unfortunately, is not new.
Hate-tinged attacks: the facts
The first attack took place in the early hours of Friday to Saturday. A trans woman was brutally beaten and rushed to hospital with injuries to her head and mouth.
Hours later, before the Pride demonstration began, a group of men, apparently at a bachelor party, scolded and tried to physically attack volunteers from the organization. “Fucking faggots to Gaza” or “go with the little flags to your fucking house” were some of the insults that were thrown at them. One of the attackers, disguised as a banana, tried to hit one of the members of the organization.
The third attack was known this Monday. Another trans woman was attacked the same Friday morning and currently remains admitted to the San Pedro hospital. Early information suggests that he will need complex facial surgery to reconstruct the damage.
An incident was also reported in Fuenmayor, where a neighbor suffered an attack in her own home: an egg was thrown at the LGTBIQ+ flag that she had hanging on her balcony.
Isolated cases? The root of the problem
From GYLDA they are clear: these attacks are not specific incidents, but the direct consequence of hate speech that continues to be normalized in certain social and political spaces. “Hate kills,” they remember, and it is not just a metaphor. The words that sow contempt towards the group end up materializing in attacks, in wounds, in traumas. Sometimes even in deaths.
For this reason, in addition to showing its solidarity with the victims, the association insists on the importance of reporting. Either by going to the National Police or the Civil Guard, calling 112 or the state line 028 against LGTBIphobia, or contacting the LGTBI+ Center of La Rioja, which offers free legal, psychological and social care.
The institutional response: condemnation, but… action?
Logroño City Council has publicly condemned the attacks. In a statement, he reaffirmed his support for the LGTBIQ+ group and demanded an end to hate speech “which has no place in a democratic and diverse society.” They have also expressed their support for GYLDA, with whom they claim to be in contact.
Izquierda Unida has gone further, directly pointing out “the extreme right sectors” as responsible for promoting discourses that fuel this violence. They demand firm and urgent institutional measures to protect the victims and investigate the facts.
Are we doing enough?
Here we should stop for a moment. Why are there no formal complaints if the attacks have been multiple and serious? Is it fear that paralyzes? Distrust towards institutions? Or the feeling that it is of no use?
It is easy to condemn an attack in a statement. It is much more difficult to act forcefully when the rights of the LGTBIQ+ community are at stake. Beyond the words, the question remains: are we as a society really facing the problem or are we simply narrating it?
What to do if you suffer or witness LGTBIphobic aggression
GYLDA remembers the channels available for those who have suffered attacks or witnessed an attack:
- 📞 Emergencies: 112
- 📞 Line 028 against LGTBIphobia (free and confidential attention)
- 📍 LGTBI+ Center of La Rioja (Av. Colón, 37 – Logroño)
- Email: centro@lgtbilarioja.org
- Phone numbers: 941 29 40 10 / 604 810 230 (with WhatsApp)
Reporting is essential, not only to achieve justice, but also to record that this is happening. And it cannot continue to happen without consequences.
