Belgian Pride was back this weekend following a three-year absence. More than 120,000 people gathered in the streets of the capital to celebrate the LGBTQI+ community. While no major incidents were reported, a boy, Luca Busard, his mother and his sister were attacked by several people in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean as they returned to their car. The three attackers tore off the rainbow flag that the boy was wearing around his neck and then set fire to it, causing burns to the young man. They also beat his mother and sister. Fortunately, the police quickly intervened and the three alleged perpetrators were apprehended.
Today, the family of Luca Busard has decided to break the silence. “We were there to help spread the message that everyone should be able to be themselves”, explained the mother of the victim, Aurélie Meyer, to our colleagues from Laatste Nieuws. “At first we were shouted at, a man from the neighborhood then tried to separate the young people (note the attackers), but the situation degenerated too quickly. Very quickly, there were around 20 to 25 young people around us. Then a man between 25 and 30 years old came forward and attacked my younger brother. He was burned in the neck because a man violently pulled the flag around his neck. We find it incomprehensible and disgusting that it must have happened to us that day”, said Larisa, Luca’s sister, sorry.
“Luca still has nightmares regarding it. It was a very violent moment that deeply marked him and us too. It was so unexpected, you are not prepared for this and everything is going very quickly,” added his mother. Faced with this sad incident, the organization of the Belgian Pride wanted to react and gave its support to Luca Busard and his relatives. She said she knew other victims of similar incidents and invited them to file a complaint.