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Sinead Butler
Jan 17, 2023
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A gay couple appeared to be sprayed by a woman with "holy water" after she spotted the pair hugging in front of a church in Mexico.
Leonardo Hernandez and his partner were sat outside the church in Toluca - a city about 50 miles west of Mexico City - when the unidentified woman began to verbally abuse them, as per NBC News.
“Get out right now! I’m going to call the police,” the woman can be heard saying in Spanish, according to the publication, as the couple filmed the incident.
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The woman can also be seen spraying the couple in a cross motion.
"It is bad to hate, lady," Hernandez said to the woman in Spanish.
After spraying the couple, she then took out her mobile phone and said she was calling the police where she falsely claimed the couple were trespassing as the church is private property and that they are not welcome.
“They are not from here,” she added at one point in Spanish. “They come from other depraved countries to teach immorality to the youth here.”
@leoperovirgo Que dificil entender que alguien puede tratarte asi por el hecho de de amar libremente 💔 los buenos somos más; Gracias a las autoridades y gente de la iglesia que decidieron actuar con amor y congruencia 💖🏳️🌈
Hernandez then speaks to the person on the woman's phone who appears to be an officer and explained he and his partner were just hugging and they weren't doing anything wrong, while they also noted how they were both being respectful towards the woman.
The officer then told Hernandez that he informed the woman that “this is discrimination," but advised the couple to leave the area in order to avoid any more conflict.
“Its difficult to understand that someone can treat you like this for loving freely. The good are more. Thanks to the authorities and people of the church who decided to act with love and consistency," Hernandez wrote for his video caption in Spanish.
The video has received nearly 400,000 views as viewers shared their messages of support for the couple.
One person wrote: "So sorry you have to go through this. You have every right to be anywhere you want to be."
"Sorry someone made you feel like this. Keep loving freely!" another person said.
Someone else added: "I’m so sorry boys. You handled it correctly. All the love to you."
In October last year, same-sex marriage became legal nationwide in all 32 states of Mexico after northeastern border state Tamaulipas became the last state that voted for the legislation.
Mexico City was the first part of the country that legalised same-sex marriage back in 2009.
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