Life

Photographer blinded by gasoline in alleged anti-gay hate crime

Photographer blinded by gasoline in alleged anti-gay hate crime
Tyler Maddick
Tyler Maddick

SWANSEA, Wales — A freelance photographer has been blinded in one eye following an alleged anti-gay hate crime late last week in which his attackers threw gasoline in his face.

Tyler Maddick, 20, says he was targeted by three or four men in a car as he walked home in Swansea on Sept. 11, reports the BBC.

Maddick says he had just said goodbye to a friend at the railway station and was walking to his home when a car pulled up alongside him and he was verbally abused. The occupants yelled out a gay slur and then doused him in a liquid, which he later discovered was petrol.

“The next thing I know I have this liquid in my face. It disorientated me. Then my eye started to burn up.

[…]

“I’ve been told that because I had an infection in the eye anyway that lost 90% of my vision, the chemicals going into my eye has knocked out 100%. I’ve been told there’s a very high possibility that my vision won’t come back in that eye.”

Maddick said his sexual orientation is “quite obvious,” and suspects “they must have just picked up on it.”

Detective Inspector Mark Kavanagh of the Swansea Central police station, said: the incident is being investigated as a hate crime.

Don't forget to share:

Support vital LGBTQ+ journalism

Reader contributions help keep LGBTQ Nation free, so that queer people get the news they need, with stories that mainstream media often leaves out. Can you contribute today?

Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated

Kazakhstan politician: Gays can be identified by colored pants, DNA test

Previous article

Online web filter ending longtime block on mainstream gay websites

Next article