A gay couple in the southern city of
Nice, France were attacked over the weekend as a bill legalizing
marriage and adoption for gay couples nears a final vote on Tuesday.
Raphael Leclerc posted a picture of his
battered face on Facebook.
“I left the nightclub with my
boyfriend at around 5.35am on Saturday,” Leclerc,
24, wrote of the incident. “We were not kissing and we were
not holding hands. A couple of minutes later there were three, who
were shouting 'hey gays' at us, and then they ran at us.”
Leclerc said he was asked whether he
was French or Chechen. He replied French before he was beaten
unconscious by his attackers.
The marriage bill has already been
approved in the French parliament's upper and lower houses.
Tuesday's planned vote in the National Assembly is considered a
formality.
Opponents, however, have not lessened
their demands that the Socialist government of President Francois
Hollande abandon its plan and let the people decide the issue. In
Paris, they marched for three nights in a row starting on Wednesday.
A day-long protest on Sunday attracted tens of thousands of
activists.
(Related: French
police arrest more than 100 as gay marriage protests continue.)
Leclerc is the second gay man to post a
picture of his battered face on social media. Wilfred de Bruijn and
his boyfriend were attacked earlier this month in Paris. Gay rights
groups claim that the rate of homophobic attacks has increased 30
percent in recent months as debate over the bill the heated up.
(Related: Wilfred
de Bruijn: Marriage debate has increased anti-gay sentiment in
France.)