Homophobic attack not reported to gardaí as Buttimer was not ‘out’

TD Jerry Buttimer did not go to the gardaí after being subjected to homophobic violence because he was not ‘out’ at the time.

The Fine Gael deputy says he wants to use memories of the attack in an empowering way by urging others on the receiving end of hate crimes to report the incident. The Cork TD said gay and lesbian people have nothing to fear from gardaí.

“I didn’t report what happened to me to the guards, because at the time I did not want people to know I was coming out of a gay pub. I wasn’t out,” he said..