A Ukrainian refugee has said he was the victim of a homophobic attack on the streets of Edinburgh.
At around 9:30pm on June 29, Nick, a 22-year-old refugee from Eastern Ukraine who has been resident in Scotland since April, was walking into a Sainsbury’s supermarket on Nicolson Street when a man approached him and grabbed his hand.
The man then asked Nick if he was gay.
“I said ‘I’m Ukrainian, what do you need?’
“After that he started yelling at me ‘F****** Ukrainian gay’ and 'I hate you'
“I told him ‘Don’t touch me’ and I tried to get away from him but he started chasing me, hitting my hands and trying to grab me.
“I started yelling ‘Help me’ and people started helping me and protecting me from him”
Security staff from Sainsbury’s came to Nick’s assistance, ushering him inside the store.
However, when Nick left the man was still there.
Nick said: “He started trying to attack me again and yell homophobic stuff. I got really scared and he kept doing it.
“I started yelling back: ‘How can you be homophobic? You’re worse than [the] Russians!’
“He kept threatening me but people protected me and surrounded him and he turned around and left the scene”
Police Scotland have been contacted for comment.
Despite feeling shocked and worried by the attack Nick said that he still feels safe in Scotland.
“How can you be homophobic and live in a free Scotland? How can you attack LGBT+ people?
“I feel okay, now. I am working in a cafe and feeling a little shocked by the event. But I think it’s important that people know this happened in Edinburgh city centre”
It comes just a few days after Nick marched in the Edinburgh Pride parade and said that Scotland felt like a safe place to call home.
Speaking before the parade he said: “Living in Ukraine, it can sometimes be dangerous for people like me to hold their boyfriend’s hand walking down the street.
“But it feels so open in Scotland and it’s so cool to live somewhere where our human rights are respected”
Nick came to Scotland as part of the Homes for Ukraine scheme after fleeing an area of Russian occupation.
