PADUA — Annoyed by the amorous effusions between two girls, a group of North Africans used strong methods the other evening in the Portello area of Padua: he threw one to the ground and covered it with insults.
All because he had shown the most natural of feelings, love, towards a girl of his age.. An unhealthy love in the eyes of someone who comes from a strictly Muslim country, where male homosexuality is widespread, even though it's a taboo never to be discussed, and female homosexuality is almost a crime. Which can even lead to lynching: «"In our country these things are punished by stoning."», one of the three North Africans hissed in the lesbian girl's face after pushing her to the ground. Then the young North African, evidently tipsy judging by his breath, the attacked girl reported, walked away, spitting on the ground in contempt.
The ugly episode of intolerance occurred last night in the Portello neighborhood. In a bar known for being "gay-friendly," a girl of Brazilian origin was dancing with her girlfriend. Between dances, partly out of defiance of her same-sex partner and partly because she had perhaps had one Spritz too many, the young woman engaged in increasingly explicit flirtations with another young woman in the group. This didn't sit well with her official girlfriend, who flew into a rage and dragged her sweetheart out of the bar to explain her behavior.
But more than the brawl between the women, what fueled the fire was the unsolicited intervention of a group of North Africans who had witnessed the scene. Shoving and insults convinced a third woman who witnessed the scene to call the police. The patrol car, arriving on the scene, he collected the complaint of the offended young woman and threw her to the ground. The girl, a nineteen-year-old of South American origins, recounted what happened through tears of anger over what was supposed to be a fun evening and ended up in a police report because of a group of North Africans. Perhaps the same people who, rightly or wrongly, are quick to level accusations of racism against the police and Italians in general.
