Gay man beaten in homophobic south London attack

A gay man has received hospital treatment after being beaten up in a homophobic attack at the weekend.

Chas Andersen, 20, from Bethnal Green, was knocked to the ground and punched twice in the head while trying to use a cash machine on Clapham High street in south-west London, opposite the gay KAZ Bar.

Mr Andersen’s partner, Mike Adler, told Rob Parsons of the London Evening Standard: “The only reason the man started on him was to say the shorts he was wearing were ridiculous.

“[Chas] was standing up for himself and I was standing up for him. The man just switched from yelling backwards and forward to becoming violent.”

Mr Adler was taken to hospital and X-rayed after the attack. He has suffered from blurred vision but was told there would be no permanent physical damage. He said: I have always thought London was the most diverse and open city in the world. For this to happen makes me realise that these people are still around.”

This attack comes only weeks after Philip Sallon, a friend of Boy George and a fixture of London’s alternative and gay scenes since the late 1970s, was beaten in Piccadilly Circus.