{ #5 } Eclipse Of The Moon (MxM || 18+)

#StopHomophobia

Hello everyone,

This is not a new chapter of Eclipse Of The Moon, but this is going to stay here (Unless I'm asked to remove it) and when the book is fully published, I might move that part to the beginning.

Today, I want to tell you a story, one that happens everyday all around the world, one that happened in my supposedly-civilized country earlier this month.

This is the story of Kevin, a 32-year-old young man who was drawn into an ambush through a dating website. For those who can read French, you can check the article here (http://www.leparisien.fr/seine-saint-denis-93/kevin-poignarde-et-tabasse-a-drancy-c-etait-une-agression-homophobe-17-03-2019-8033916.php), for others, here's a rough translation of the article and his interview.

* * *

On the phone, he apologizes for being breathless. Kevin, 32 years old, will need several months to heal from his injuries. On the night of 3 to 4 March 2019, the man was the victim of a homophobic ambush.

Drawn to Drancy (a large city in the east of Paris) via a dating website, he was beaten up and stabbed by three young guys – among whom two minors aged 15 and 16 – who have been yet indicted for "attempted murder for sexual orientation reasons, arm robbery and criminal conspiracy. They have been placed in detention.

Q: How are you feeling?

The hardest is to breathe. The knife punctured my lung. I've lost much of my respiratory capacity. I will need months of rehabilitation. I'll have to postpone my project to create my company.

Q: Can you tell us what happened?

I got in touch with a young man via a dating app. We spoke five or six sentences then moved on to Snapchat (I'm sure you all know that messages disappear after a while on this app). We talked for a few days. He was always the one reaching out to me, with reassuring words. We spoke about our professional projects. Never once did I tell myself: this person is going to hurt me.

Q: You two arranged a date?

He suggested I should meet him in Drancy. He said he had an apartment there. He even asked me to be discreet, because he knew people there.

Q: So you went there with confidence?

Totally. I arrived in a private residence, not a scary neighborhood. I was barely out of my car that I saw three youths lunge for me. One of them showed me a knife. I panicked, I shoved them back, I ran to escape. They caught up with me, made me fall. They beat me up. My stomach, my legs, everywhere. One of my ears was cut open. I had the instinct to curl up inside, to protect my face. I was stabbed. I don't know at which point. Between the panic and the kicks, I didn't realize.

Q: What made your assaulters run away?

I managed to trigger the alarm of my car thanks to a button on the key. This is what saved my life. I guess that it switched on the lights and that it scared them. I got up, walked to my car and collapsed. I remember a man asking if I was okay. I could only see white. Once at hospital, I was immediately transferred to the operating block for a blood transfusion. The policemen of Drancy who visited me every day did a fantastic job. I have to highlight this.

Q: Was it a homophobic aggression?

I can't imagine anything else. I was aggressed right away, they didn't ask for money. They didn't take the 500 € I had in my wallet. They threw my phone on the sidewalk where it shattered to pieces. I was attacked because of my sexual orientation.

Q: Why are you testifying today?

I lead a quiet life, I'm not seeking "special experiences". I want to warn everyone: yes, you can get trapped even when you believe you'll meet a nice person, whether you're gay, lesbian or straight. I don't want my story to be discarded. A judge will have to impose an exemplary sentence. It wasn't a simple aggression. They left me while I was bleeding to death. The doctors said that, give or take 15 minutes, I would have died.

* * *

These aggressions happen every day, throughout the whole world. This one is just one example among far too many others. This is unbearable.

Of course, Kevin's story touched my heart because it's France, it's my country, and it's supposed to a civilized one despite all you may have heard lately in the news (but I'm not here to do politics, so I won't debate here). I just can't believe that these things happen. Last Friday, it was a lesbian couple who was aggressed in Lyon (further toward the south east of France compared to Paris) because they were holding hands. This has to stop.

I just wanted to share this with you.

I dare hope that I have no homophobic readers, so the purpose is not to give lessons or whatever.

However, as this Kevin man said, this can happen to gay, lesbian and straight people.

So please, all of you young and mature people who use these dating websites, please be careful and stay safe.

Nath

Published on 17 March 2019
Picture in the header is a screenshot of the article in Le Parisien.

Just so you know, Kévin's story is much related on the social networks, most probably because he decided to speak up, and it seems like he's getting a lot of support. It's not the worst drama, he will survive, but the trauma will remain and this had to be said.